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13 Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’[a] For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”

A Discussion about Fasting

14 One day the disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus and asked him, “Why don’t your disciples fast[b] like we do and the Pharisees do?”

15 Jesus replied, “Do wedding guests mourn while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.

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Footnotes

  1. 9:13 Hos 6:6 (Greek version).
  2. 9:14 Some manuscripts read fast often.

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