If you hold back your foot on the sabbath/ from following your own pursuits on my holy day;/ If you call the sabbath a delight,/ and the Lord’s holy day honorable;/ If you honor it by not following your ways,/ seeking your own interests, or speaking with malice—/ Then you shall delight in the Lord,/ and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;/ I will nourish you with the heritage of Jacob, your father,/ for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

Jesus saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post.

Lo, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits,/ and drive all your laborers./ Yes, your fast ends in quarreling and fighting,/ striking with wicked claw./ Would that today you might fast/ so as to make your voice heard on high!/ Is this the manner of fasting I wish,/ of keeping a day of penance:/ That a man bow his head like a reed/ and lie in sackcloth and ashes?/ Do you call this a fast,/ a day acceptable to the Lord?/ This, rather, is the fasting that I wish:/ releasing those bound unjustly,/ untying the thongs of the yoke;/ Setting free the oppressed,/ breaking every yoke;/ Sharing your bread with the hungry,/ sheltering the oppressed and the homeless;/ Clothing the naked when you see them,/ and not turning your back on your own./ Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,/ and your wound shall quickly be healed;/ Your vindication shall go before you,/ and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard./ Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer,/ you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!

The disciples of John approached Jesus and said, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?