Esther 4:16

4:16 “Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa and fast in my behalf. Don’t eat and don’t drink for three days, night or day. My female attendants and I ¹  will also fast in the same way. Afterward I will go to the king, even though it violates the law. ²  If I perish, I perish!”

Psalms 69:10

69:10 I weep and refrain from eating food, ³ 

which causes others to insult me. ⁴ 

Isaiah 22:12

22:12 At that time the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, called for weeping and mourning,

for shaved heads and sackcloth. ⁵ 

Acts 9:9

9:9 For ⁶  three days he could not see, and he neither ate nor drank anything. ⁷ 

[4:16]  ¹ tn Heb “I and my female attendants.” The translation reverses the order for stylistic reasons.

[4:16]  ² tn Heb “which is not according to the law” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “contrary to the law.”

[69:10]  ³ sn Fasting was a practice of mourners. By refraining from normal activities such as eating food, the mourner demonstrated the sincerity of his sorrow.

[69:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “and it becomes insults to me.”

[22:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “for baldness and the wearing of sackcloth.” See the note at 15:2.

[9:9]  ⁶ tn Grk “And for.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[9:9]  ⁷ tn The word “anything” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader. The fasting might indicate an initial realization of Luke 5:33-39. Fasting was usually accompanied by reflective thought.