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Scripture · New Testament

Matthew 6:16

Matthew 6:16 is verse 16 of Matthew chapter 6, shown here in the Berean Standard Bible.

Berean Standard Bible

When you fast, do not be somber like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward.

BSB source and public domain terms

King James Version

Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

World English Bible

“Moreover when you fast, don’t be like the hypocrites, with sad faces. For they disfigure their faces that they may be seen by men to be fasting. Most certainly I tell you, they have received their reward.

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Matthew 6:14–18 · Berean Standard Bible

14 For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive yours.

16 When you fast, do not be somber like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward.

17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,

18 so that your fasting will not be obvious to men, but only to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Read all of Matthew 6

Greek words

Data created by STEPBible.org based on work at Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

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Cross-references

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge lists these related verses. Scripture text comes from the Berean Standard Bible.

Matthew 9:14

At that time John’s disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast so often, but Your disciples do not fast?”

Matthew 9:15

Jesus replied, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while He is with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.

2 Samuel 12:16

David pleaded with God for the boy. He fasted and went into his house and spent the night lying in sackcloth on the ground.

2 Samuel 12:21

“What is this you have done?” his servants asked. “While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but when he died, you got up and ate.”

Nehemiah 1:4

When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

Esther 4:16

“Go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day, and I and my maidens will fast as you do. After that, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish!”

Psalms 35:13

Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting, but my prayers returned unanswered.

Psalms 69:10

I wept and fasted, but it brought me reproach.

Psalms 109:24

My knees are weak from fasting, and my body grows lean and gaunt.

Daniel 9:3

So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petition, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.

Luke 2:37

and then was a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.

Acts 10:30

Cornelius answered: “Four days ago I was in my house praying at this, the ninth hour. Suddenly a man in radiant clothing stood before me

Acts 13:2

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

Acts 13:3

And after they had fasted and prayed, they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

Acts 14:23

Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church, praying and fasting as they entrusted them to the Lord, in whom they had believed.

1 Corinthians 7:5

Do not deprive each other, except by mutual consent and for a time, so you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again, so that Satan will not tempt you through your lack of self-control.

2 Corinthians 6:5

in beatings, imprisonments, and riots; in labor, sleepless nights, and hunger;

2 Corinthians 11:27

in labor and toil and often without sleep, in hunger and thirst and often without food, in cold and exposure.

Matthew 6:2

So when you give to the needy, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward.

Matthew 6:5

And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward.

1 Kings 21:27

When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and fasted. He lay down in sackcloth and walked around meekly.

Isaiah 58:3

“Why have we fasted, and You have not seen? Why have we humbled ourselves, and You have not noticed?” “Behold, on the day of your fast, you do as you please, and you oppress all your workers.

Isaiah 58:4

You fast with contention and strife to strike viciously with your fist. You cannot fast as you do today and have your voice be heard on high.

Isaiah 58:5

Is this the fast I have chosen: a day for a man to deny himself, to bow his head like a reed, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast and a day acceptable to the LORD?

Zechariah 7:3

by asking the priests of the house of the LORD of Hosts, as well as the prophets, “Should I weep and fast in the fifth month, as I have done these many years?”

Zechariah 7:4

Then the word of the LORD of Hosts came to me, saying,

Zechariah 7:5

“Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for these seventy years, was it really for Me that you fasted?

Malachi 3:14

You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What have we gained by keeping His requirements and walking mournfully before the LORD of Hosts?

Mark 2:18

Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were often fasting. So people came to Jesus and asked, “Why don’t Your disciples fast like John’s disciples and those of the Pharisees?”

Luke 18:12

I fast twice a week and pay tithes of all that I acquire.’

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