16 “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

14 Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?” 
15 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.

9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’  
13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ 
14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

1 “Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
    Raise your voice like a trumpet. 
Declare to my people their rebellion
    and to the descendants of Jacob their sins. 
2 For day after day they seek me out;
    they seem eager to know my ways, 
as if they were a nation that does what is right
    and has not forsaken the commands of its God. 
They ask me for just decisions
    and seem eager for God to come near them. 
3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,
    ‘and you have not seen it? 
Why have we humbled ourselves,
    and you have not noticed?’ 
“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
    and exploit all your workers. 
4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
    and in striking each other with wicked fists. 
You cannot fast as you do today
    and expect your voice to be heard on high. 
5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
    only a day for people to humble themselves? 
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
    and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? 
Is that what you call a fast,
    a day acceptable to the Lord? 
6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice
    and untie the cords of the yoke, 
to set the oppressed free
    and break every yoke? 
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— 
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? 
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing will quickly appear; 
then your righteousness will go before you,
    and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. 
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
    you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. 
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
   with the pointing finger and malicious talk, 
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
    and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, 
then your light will rise in the darkness,
    and your night will become like the noonday. 
11 The Lord will guide you always;
    he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
    and will strengthen your frame. 
You will be like a well-watered garden,
    like a spring whose waters never fail. 
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
    and will raise up the age-old foundations; 
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
    Restorer of Streets with Dwellings. 
13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
    and from doing as you please on my holy day, 
if you call the Sabbath a delight
    and the Lord’s holy day honorable, 
and if you honor it by not going your own way
    and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, 
14 then you will find your joy in the Lord,
    and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land
    and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”
        For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

33 Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. “For the last fourteen days,” he said, “you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food—you haven’t eaten anything. 34 Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.” 35 After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat. 36 They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves. 37 Altogether there were 276 of us on board. 

1 On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and putting dust on their heads. 2 Those of Israelite descent had separated themselves from all foreigners. They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors. 3 They stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping the Lord their God.