1 Then Jesus was led by the [Holy] Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. [Luke 4:1-13] 2 After He had gone without food for forty days and forty nights, He became hungry. [Ex 34:28; 1 Kin 19:8]

20 He answered, "Because of your little faith [your lack of trust and confidence in the power of God]; for I assure you and most solemnly say to you, *if you have [living] faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and [if it is God’s will] it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. [Mark 11:23; Luke 17:6; 1 John 5:14] 21 *[But this kind of demon does not go out except by prayer and fasting.]"

16 "And whenever you are fasting, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they put on a sad and dismal face [like actors, discoloring their faces with ashes or dirt] so that their fasting may be seen by men. I assure you and most solemnly say to you, they [already] have their reward in full. [Is 58:5] 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head [as you normally would to groom your hair] and wash your face18 so that your fasting will not be noticed by people, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees [what is done] in secret will reward you.

16 "And whenever you are fasting, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they put on a sad and dismal face [like actors, discoloring their faces with ashes or dirt] so that their fasting may be seen by men. I assure you and most solemnly say to you, they [already] have their reward in full. [Is 58:5]

17 But when you fast, put oil on your head [as you normally would to groom your hair] and wash your face18 so that your fasting will not be noticed by people, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees [what is done] in secret will reward you.

2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they ended, He was hungry. [Deut 9:9; 1 Kin 19:8]

28 Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he ate no bread and drank no water. And He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.

3 So I directed my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.

3 I ate no tasty food, nor did any meat or wine enter my mouth; and I did not *anoint (refresh, groom) myself at all for the full three weeks.

3 I ate no tasty food, nor did any meat or wine enter my mouth; and I did not *anoint (refresh, groom) myself at all for the full three weeks.

16 "Go, gather all the Jews that are present in Susa, and observe a fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids also will fast in the same way. Then I will go in to [see] the king [without being summoned], which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish."

4 Now it came about when I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying [constantly] before the God of heaven.

21 Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river Ahava, so that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from Him a safe journey for us, our *children, and all our possessions.

23 So we fasted and sought [help from] our God concerning this [matter], and He heard our plea.

23 So we fasted and sought [help from] our God concerning this [matter], and He heard our plea.

16 David therefore appealed to God for the child [to be healed]; and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground.

5 The people of Nineveh believed and trusted in God; and they proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth [in penitent mourning], from the greatest even to the least of them. 6 When word reached the king of Nineveh [of Jonah’s message from God], he rose from his throne, took off his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in the dust [in repentance]. 7 He issued a proclamation and it said, "In Nineveh, by the decree of the king and his nobles: No man, animal, herd, or flock is to taste anything. They are not to eat or drink water. 8 But both man and animal must be covered with sackcloth; and every one is to call on God earnestly and forcefully that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence that is in his hands. 9 Who knows, God may turn [in compassion] and relent and withdraw His burning anger (judgment) so that we will not perish." [Joel 2:13, 14]

10 When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God [had compassion and] relented concerning the disaster which He had declared that He would bring upon them. And He did not do it.

3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and You do not see it?

Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?’

Hear this [O Israel], on the day of your fast [when you should be grieving for your sins] you find something you desire [to do],

And you force your hired servants to work [instead of stopping all work, as the law teaches]. [Lev 16:29]

4 "The facts are that you fast only for strife and brawling and to strike with the fist of wickedness.

You do not fast as you do today to make your voice heard on high.

5 "Is a fast such as this what I have chosen, a day for a man to humble himself [with sorrow in his soul]?

Is it only to bow down his head like a reed

And to make sackcloth and ashes as a bed [pretending to have a repentant heart]?

Do you call this a fast and a day pleasing to the Lord?

6 "[Rather] is this not the fast which I choose,

To undo the bonds of wickedness,

To tear to pieces the ropes of the yoke,

To let the oppressed go free

And break apart every [enslaving] yoke? [Acts 8:23]

6 "[Rather] is this not the fast which I choose,

To undo the bonds of wickedness,

To tear to pieces the ropes of the yoke,

To let the oppressed go free

And break apart every [enslaving] yoke? [Acts 8:23]

12 "Even now," says the Lord,

"Turn and come to Me with all your heart [in genuine repentance],

With fasting and weeping and mourning [until every barrier is removed and the broken fellowship is restored];

12 "Even now," says the Lord,

"Turn and come to Me with all your heart [in genuine repentance],

With fasting and weeping and mourning [until every barrier is removed and the broken fellowship is restored];

14 Consecrate a fast,

Proclaim a solemn assembly,

Gather the elders

And all the inhabitants of the land

To the house of the Lord your God,

And cry out to the Lord [in penitent pleadings].

2 While they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul (Paul) for the work to which I have called them."

2 While they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul (Paul) for the work to which I have called them."

2 While they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul (Paul) for the work to which I have called them." 3 Then after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them [in approval and dedication] and sent them away [on their first journey].

3 Then after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them [in approval and dedication] and sent them away [on their first journey].

3 Then after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them [in approval and dedication] and sent them away [on their first journey].

23 When they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they entrusted them to the Lord in whom they believed [and joyfully accepted as the Messiah].

37 and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She did not leave the [area of the] temple, but was serving and worshiping night and day with fastings and prayers.

33 Then they said to Him, "The disciples of John [the Baptist] often practice fasting and offer prayers [of special petition], and so do the disciples of the Pharisees; but Yours eat and drink." 34 Jesus said to them, "Can you make the wedding guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them?35 But days [for mourning] will come when the bridegroom is [forcefully] taken away from them. They will fast in those days."

28 When He had gone indoors, His disciples began asking Him privately, "Why were we unable to drive it out?" 29 He replied to them, "This kind [of unclean spirit] cannot come out by anything but prayer [to the Father]."

29 He replied to them, "This kind [of unclean spirit] cannot come out by anything but prayer [to the Father]."

27 in labor and hardship, often unable to sleep, in hunger and thirst, often [driven to] fasting [for lack of food], in cold and exposure [without adequate clothing].

13 But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth (mourning garment);

I humbled my soul with fasting,

And I prayed with my head bowed on my chest.