Jesus Teaches about Going without Food So You Can Pray Better ^(A)

¹⁴ Then the followers of John the Baptist came to Jesus. They asked, “Why do we and the proud religious law-keepers many times go without food so we can pray better? But Your followers never go without food so they can pray better.” ¹⁵ Jesus said, “Can the friends at a wedding be sorry when the man just married is with them? But the days will come when the man just married will be taken from them. Then they will not eat food so they can pray better.

¹⁶ “No one sews a piece of new cloth on an old coat, because if the new piece pulls away, it makes the hole bigger. ¹⁷ Men do not put new wine into old skin bags. If they did, the skins would break and the wine would run out. The bags would be no good. They put new wine into new skin bags and both can be used.”

Jesus Teaches about Going without Food So You Can Pray Better ^(A)

¹⁸ The followers of John and the proud religious law-keepers were not eating food so they could pray better. Some people came to Jesus and said, “Why do the followers of John and the proud religious law-keepers go without food so they can pray better, but Your followers do not?” ¹⁹ Jesus said to them, “Can the friends at a wedding go without food when the man just married is with them? As long as they have him with them, they will not go without food. ²⁰ The days will come when the man just married will be taken from them. Then they will not eat food so they can pray better. ²¹ No man sews a piece of new cloth on an old coat. If it comes off, it will make the hole bigger. ²² No man puts new wine into old skin bags. The skin would break and the wine would run out. The bags would be no good. New wine must be put into new skin bags.”