The Daniel Fast

desirable bread I have not eaten, and flesh and wine hath not come in unto my mouth, and I have not anointed myself at all, till the completion of three weeks of days.

And Daniel purposeth in his heart that he will not pollute himself with the king's portion of food, and with the wine of his drinking, and he seeketh of the chief of the eunuchs that he may not pollute himself. — read the full passage →

`And when ye may fast, be ye not as the hypocrites, of sour countenances, for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear to men fasting; verily I say to you, that they have their reward. — read the full passage →

In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a thing is revealed to Daniel, whose name is called Belteshazzar, and the thing <FI>is<Fi> true, and the warfare <FI>is<Fi> great: and he hath understood the thing, and hath understanding about the appearance. — read the full passage →

But he answering said, `It hath been written, Not upon bread alone doth man live, but upon every word coming forth from the mouth of God.'

And Daniel, when he hath known that the writing is signed, hath gone up to his house, and the window being opened for him, in his upper chamber, over-against Jerusalem, three times in a day he is kneeling on his knees, and praying, and confessing before his God, because that he was doing <FI>it<Fi> before this. — read the full passage →

And of all things the end hath come nigh; be sober-minded, then, and watch unto the prayers, — read the full passage →

`In those days, I, Daniel, have been mourning three weeks of days;

Without covetousness the behaviour, being content with the things present, for He hath said, `No, I will not leave, no, nor forsake thee,' — read the full passage →

Call with the throat, restrain not, As a trumpet lift up thy voice, And declare to My people their transgression, And to the house of Jacob their sins; — read the full passage →

but it is great gain--the piety with contentment; — read the full passage →

So then, my brethren beloved, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, — read the full passage →

always rejoice ye; — read the full passage →

`Go, gather all the Jews who are found in Shushan, and fast for me, and do not eat nor drink three days, by night and by day; also I and my young women do fast likewise, and so I go in unto the king, that <FI>is<Fi> not according to law, and when I have perished--I have perished.'

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice; — read the full passage →

Then hath the king gone to his palace, and he hath passed the night fasting, and dahavan have not been brought up before him, and his sleep hath fled <FI>from<Fi> off him.

wherefore, a kingdom that cannot be shaken receiving, may we have grace, through which we may serve God well-pleasingly, with reverence and religious fear; — read the full passage →

and she <FI>is<Fi> a widow of about eighty-four years, who did depart not from the temple, with fasts and supplications serving, night and day,

And it cometh to pass, at my hearing these words, I have sat down, and I weep and mourn <FI>for<Fi> days, and I am fasting and praying before the God of the heavens.

Doth any one suffer evil among you? let him pray; is any of good cheer? let him sing psalms; — read the full passage →

and having appointed to them by vote elders in every assembly, having prayed with fastings, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

`In those days, I, Daniel, have been mourning three weeks of days; — read the full passage →

Search me, O God, and know my heart, Try me, and know my thoughts, — read the full passage →

and in their ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, `Separate ye to me both Barnabas and Saul to the work to which I have called them,'

Is not this the fast that I chose--To loose the bands of wickedness, To shake off the burdens of the yoke, And to send out the oppressed free, And every yoke ye draw off?

The command of His lips, and I depart not. Above my allotted portion I have laid up The sayings of His mouth.

In the first year of Darius, son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, who hath been made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans, — read the full passage →

Be subject, then, to every human creation, because of the Lord, whether to a king, as the highest, — read the full passage →

According to the grace of God that was given to me, as a wise master-builder, a foundation I have laid, and another doth build on <FI>it<Fi> , — read the full passage →

I exhort, then, first of all, there be made supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings, for all men: — read the full passage →

`And when ye may fast, be ye not as the hypocrites, of sour countenances, for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear to men fasting; verily I say to you, that they have their reward.

And I proclaim there a fast, by the river Ahava, to afflict ourselves before our God, to seek from Him a right way for us, and for our infants, and for all our substance, — read the full passage →

As to the rest, brethren, as many things as are true, as many as <FI>are<Fi> grave, as many as <FI>are<Fi> righteous, as many as <FI>are<Fi> pure, as many as <FI>are<Fi> lovely, as many as <FI>are<Fi> of good report, if any worthiness, and if any praise, these things think upon; — read the full passage →

And I weep in the fasting of my soul, And it is for a reproach to me.

And also now--an affirmation of Jehovah, Turn ye back unto Me with all your heart, And with fasting, and with weeping, And with lamentation.

Defraud not one another, except by consent for a time, that ye may be free for fasting and prayer, and again may come together, that the Adversary may not tempt you because of your incontinence;

and become ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves, — read the full passage →

by faith Moses, having become great, did refuse to be called a son of the daughter of Pharaoh, — read the full passage →

for which also we do pray always for you, that our God may count you worthy of the calling, and may fulfil all the good pleasure of goodness, and the work of the faith in power, — read the full passage →

In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, come hath Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Jerusalem, and layeth siege against it; — read the full passage →

For I have known the thoughts that I am thinking towards you--an affirmation of Jehovah; thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give to you posterity and hope.

because he who is sowing to his own flesh, of the flesh shall reap corruption; and he who is sowing to the Spirit, of the Spirit shall reap life age-during;

`Try, I pray thee, thy servants, ten days; and they give to us of the vegetables, and we eat, and water, and we drink;

for the reckoning of God is living, and working, and sharp above every two-edged sword, and piercing unto the dividing asunder both of soul and spirit, of joints also and marrow, and a discerner of thoughts and intents of the heart; — read the full passage →

`And not in regard to these alone do I ask, but also in regard to those who shall be believing, through their word, in me; — read the full passage →

Then come to him do the disciples of John, saying, `Wherefore do we and the Pharisees fast much, and thy disciples fast not?' — read the full passage →

and I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek <FI>by<Fi> prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes. — read the full passage →

and I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek <FI>by<Fi> prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.

Iron by iron is sharpened, And a man sharpens the face of his friend.

In Thy precepts I meditate, And I behold attentively Thy paths.

who in the days of his flesh both prayers and supplications unto Him who was able to save him from death--with strong crying and tears--having offered up, and having been heard in respect to that which he feared, — read the full passage →

The two <FI>are<Fi> better than the one, in that they have a good reward by their labour. — read the full passage →

Then come to him do the disciples of John, saying, `Wherefore do we and the Pharisees fast much, and thy disciples fast not?'

and let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also ye were called in one body, and become thankful. — read the full passage →

Lo, for strife and debate ye fast, And to smite with the fist of wickedness, Ye fast not as <FI>to<Fi> -day, To sound in the high place your voice.

The way of Thy precepts cause me to understand, And I meditate in Thy wonders.

I call upon you, therefore, brethren, through the compassions of God, to present your bodies a sacrifice--living, sanctified, acceptable to God--your intelligent service; — read the full passage →

and forgive us our sins, for also we ourselves forgive every one indebted to us; and mayest Thou not bring us into temptation; but do Thou deliver us from the evil.'

And also now--an affirmation of Jehovah, Turn ye back unto Me with all your heart, And with fasting, and with weeping, And with lamentation. — read the full passage →

and they mourn, and weep, and fast till the evening, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of Jehovah, and for the house of Israel, because they have fallen by the sword.

And they said unto him, `Wherefore do the disciples of John fast often, and make supplications--in like manner also those of the Pharisees--but thine do eat and drink?'

Like this is the fast that I choose? The day of a man's afflicting his soul? To bow as a reed his head, And sackcloth and ashes spread out? This dost thou call a fast, And a desirable day--to Jehovah?

`Try, I pray thee, thy servants, ten days; and they give to us of the vegetables, and we eat, and water, and we drink; — read the full passage →

And I--in their sickness my clothing <FI>is<Fi> sackcloth, I have humbled with fastings my soul, And my prayer unto my bosom returneth.

And he is there with Jehovah forty days and forty nights; bread he hath not eaten, and water he hath not drunk; and he writeth on the tables the matters of the covenant--the ten matters.

`Why have we fasted, and Thou hast not seen? We have afflicted our soul, and Thou knowest not.' Lo, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, And all your labours ye exact.

I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all things--as many as I possess.

And they are gathered to Mizpeh, and draw water, and pour out before Jehovah, and fast on that day, and say there, `We have sinned against Jehovah;' and Samuel judgeth the sons of Israel in Mizpeh.

I wish, therefore, that men pray in every place, lifting up kind hands, apart from anger and reasoning;

then having fasted, and having prayed, and having laid the hands on them, they sent <FI>them<Fi> away.

Then broken up as the dawn is thy light, And thy health in haste springeth up, Gone before thee hath thy righteousness, The honour of Jehovah doth gather thee.

And also now--an affirmation of Jehovah, Turn ye back unto Me with all your heart, And with fasting, and with weeping, And with lamentation. — read the full passage →

And Daniel purposeth in his heart that he will not pollute himself with the king's portion of food, and with the wine of his drinking, and he seeketh of the chief of the eunuchs that he may not pollute himself.

And in the twenty and fourth day of this month have the sons of Israel been gathered, with fasting, and with sackcloth, and earth upon them; — read the full passage →

And the disciples of John and those of the Pharisees were fasting, and they come and say to him, `Wherefore do the disciples of John and those of the Pharisees fast, and thy disciples do not fast?'

And I--in their sickness my clothing <FI>is<Fi> sackcloth, I have humbled with fastings my soul, And my prayer unto my bosom returneth. — read the full passage →

And he saith unto me: Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that thou didst give thy heart to understand, and to humble thyself before thy God, thy words have been heard, and I have come because of thy words.

and have not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah our God, to walk in His laws, that He hath set before us by the hand of His servants the prophets;

yet Michael, the chief messenger, when, with the devil contending, he was disputing about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring up an evil-speaking judgment, but said, `The Lord rebuke thee!'

in labouriousness and painfulness, in watchings many times, in hunger and thirst, in fastings many times, in cold and nakedness;

and they were continuing stedfastly in the teaching of the apostles, and the fellowship, and the breaking of the bread, and the prayers.

because nothing shall be impossible with God.'

And the Meltzar is taking away their portion of food, and the wine of their drink, and is giving to them vegetables.

And I proclaim there a fast, by the river Ahava, to afflict ourselves before our God, to seek from Him a right way for us, and for our infants, and for all our substance,

the book of this law doth not depart out of thy mouth, and thou hast meditated in it by day and by night, so that thou dost observe to do according to all that is written in it, for then thou dost cause thy way to prosper, and then thou dost act wisely. — read the full passage →

And there were certain in Antioch, in the assembly there, prophets and teachers; both Barnabas, and Simeon who is called Niger, and Lucius the Cyrenian, Manaen also--Herod the tetrarch's foster-brother--and Saul; — read the full passage →

surely there hath none been like Ahab, who sold himself to do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, whom Jezebel his wife hath moved, — read the full passage →

In like manner, ye younger, be subject to elders, and all to one another subjecting yourselves; with humble-mindedness clothe yourselves, because God the proud doth resist, but to the humble He doth give grace; — read the full passage →

Doth any one suffer evil among you? let him pray; is any of good cheer? let him sing psalms; — read the full passage →

Be obedient to those leading you, and be subject, for these do watch for your souls, as about to give account, that with joy they may do this, and not sighing, for this <FI>is<Fi> unprofitable to you.

These things remind <FI>them<Fi> of, testifying fully before the Lord--not to strive about words to nothing profitable, but to the subversion of those hearing; — read the full passage →

speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, — read the full passage →

By David. --An Instruction. O the happiness of him whose transgression <FI>is<Fi> forgiven, Whose sin is covered. — read the full passage →

The law of Jehovah <FI>is<Fi> perfect, refreshing the soul, The testimonies of Jehovah <FI>are<Fi> stedfast, Making wise the simple, — read the full passage →

O the happiness of that one, who Hath not walked in the counsel of the wicked. And in the way of sinners hath not stood, And in the seat of scorners hath not sat; — read the full passage →

and they lift up their eyes from afar and have not discerned him, and they lift up their voice and weep, and rend each his robe, and sprinkle dust on their heads--heavenward.

Jesus saith to him, `I am the way, and the truth, and the life, no one doth come unto the Father, if not through me;

`No domestic is able to serve two lords, for either the one he will hate, and the other he will love; or one he will hold to, and of the other he will be heedless; ye are not able to serve God and mammon.' — read the full passage →

`And when thou mayest pray, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites, because they love in the synagogues, and in the corners of the broad places--standing--to pray, that they may be seen of men; verily I say to you, that they have their reward. — read the full passage →

Turn back, O Israel, unto Jehovah thy God, For thou hast stumbled by thine iniquity. — read the full passage →