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19 Jesus answered, “The attendants of the bridegroom [a]cannot fast while the bridegroom is [still] with them, can they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 But the days will come when the bridegroom is [forcefully] [b]taken away from them, and they will fast at that time.

21 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk (new) cloth on an old garment; otherwise the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and the tear becomes worse.

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Footnotes

  1. Mark 2:19 Jewish tradition (as recorded in the Talmud) held that it was a religious duty to congratulate and entertain the bride and groom during the wedding festivities. By analogy, Jesus is saying that His disciples ought to rejoice while He is with them rather than engage in fasting, which was a sign of mourning.
  2. Mark 2:20 The words “taken away” allude to Jesus’ violent death on the cross (cf Is 53:8).

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