daniels fast

⁸But Daniel resolved in his heart that he would not be polluted with the king’s meal, nor with the wine he drank, and he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not be contaminated. ⁹And so God gave Daniel grace and mercy in the sight of the leader of the eunuchs. ¹⁰And the leader of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has appointed food and drink for you, who, if he should see that your faces are leaner than those of the other youths your age, you would condemn my head to the king.” ¹¹And Daniel said to Malasar, whom the leader of the eunuchs had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, ¹²“I beg you to test us, your servants, for ten days, and let roots be given to us to eat and water to drink, ¹³and then observe our faces, and the faces of the children who eat the king’s food, and then deal with your servants according to what you see.”

²In those days, I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks of days. ³I ate no desirable bread, and neither meat, nor wine, entered my mouth, neither was I anointed with ointment, until the three weeks of days were completed.

¹⁶And when you fast, do not choose to become gloomy, like the hypocrites. For they alter their faces, so that their fasting may be apparent to men. Amen I say to you, that they have received their reward. ¹⁷But as for you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, ¹⁸so that your fasting will not be apparent to men, but to your Father, who is in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will repay you.

²³And traveling by way of Pisidia, they arrived in Pamphylia.

²Now as they were ministering for the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said to them: “Separate Saul and Barnabas for me, for the work for which I have selected them.” ³Then, fasting and praying and imposing their hands upon them, they sent them away.

¹²Now, therefore, the Lord says: “Be converted to me with your whole heart, in fasting and weeping and mourning.” ¹³And rend your hearts, and not your garments, and convert to the Lord your God. For he is gracious and merciful, patient and full of compassion, and steadfast despite ill will.

²¹And I proclaimed a fast in that place, beside the river Ahava, so that we might afflict ourselves in the sight of the Lord our God, and so that we might request of him the right way for us, and for our sons, and for all our substance. ²²For I was ashamed to petition the king for assistance and for horsemen, who would defend us from the enemy along the way. For we had said to the king: “The hand of our God is over all those who seek him in goodness. And his authority, and his strength and fury, is over all those who forsake him.” ²³And so we fasted and begged our God for this; and as a result, we prospered.

⁵So, do not fail in your obligations to one another, except perhaps by consent, for a limited time, so that you may empty yourselves for prayer. And then, return together again, lest Satan tempt you by means of your abstinence.

⁴And when I had heard this manner of words, I sat down, and I wept and mourned for many days. I fasted and prayed before the face of the God of heaven.

¹And Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan. And he was urged by the Spirit into the wilderness ²for forty days, and he was tested by the devil. And he ate nothing in those days. And when they were completed, he was hungry.

¹¹And I covered my soul with fasting, and it has become a reproach to me.

¹⁶“Go and gather together all the Jews whom you will find in Susa, and pray for me. Neither eat nor drink for three days and three nights, and I will fast with my handmaids similarly, and then I will go in to the king, doing what is against the law, not having been called, and so expose myself to mortal danger.”

⁶Is not this, instead, the kind of fast that I have chosen? Release the constraints of impiety; relieve the burdens that oppress; freely forgive those who are broken; and break apart every burden. ⁷Break your bread with the hungry, and lead the destitute and the homeless into your house. When you see someone naked, cover him, and do not despise your own flesh.

¹²Now, therefore, the Lord says: “Be converted to me with your whole heart, in fasting and weeping and mourning.”

⁶Is not this, instead, the kind of fast that I have chosen? Release the constraints of impiety; relieve the burdens that oppress; freely forgive those who are broken; and break apart every burden.