Jesus Calls the First Disciples

^18 (A)While walking by ^(B)the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you ^(C)fishers of men.”^{[a] 20} Immediately they left their nets and followed him. ²¹ And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. ²² Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Jesus Calls Matthew

^9 (A)As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called ^(B)Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

¹⁰ And as Jesus^[a] reclined at table in the house, behold, many ^(C)tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. ¹¹ And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ^(D)“Why does your teacher eat with ^(E)tax collectors and sinners?” ¹² But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³ Go and learn ^(F)what this means: ^(G)‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For ^(H)I came not to call the righteous, ^(I)but sinners.”

A Question About Fasting

¹⁴ Then ^(J)the disciples of John came to him, saying, ^(K)“Why do we and ^(L)the Pharisees fast,^[b] but your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁵ And Jesus said to them, ^(M)“Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? ^(N)The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and ^(O)then they will fast. ¹⁶ No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. ¹⁷ Neither is new wine put into old ^(P)wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

^16 (A)Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. ¹⁷ And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become ^(B)fishers of men.”^{[a] 18} And immediately they left their nets and followed him. ¹⁹ And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. ²⁰ And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.

^14 (A)And as he passed by, he saw ^(B)Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

¹⁵ And as he reclined at table in his house, many ^(C)tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. ¹⁶ And ^(D)the scribes of^[a] the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, ^(E)“Why does he eat^[b] with tax collectors and sinners?” ¹⁷ And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ^(F)I came not to call the righteous, ^(G)but sinners.”

A Question About Fasting

¹⁸ Now ^(H)John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, ^(I)“Why do John's disciples and ^(J)the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁹ And Jesus said to them, ^(K)“Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. ^20 (L)The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and ^(M)then they will fast in that day. ²¹ No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. ²² And no one puts new wine into old ^(N)wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”^[c]

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

5 On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by ^(A)the lake of Gennesaret, ^2 (B)and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were ^(C)washing their nets. ³ Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And ^(D)he sat down and taught the people from the boat. ⁴ And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ^(E)“Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” ⁵ And Simon answered, “Master, ^(F)we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” ⁶ And when they had done this, ^(G)they enclosed a large number of fish, and ^(H)their nets were breaking. ⁷ They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. ^(I)And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. ⁸ But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, ^(J)“Depart from me, for ^(K)I am a sinful man, O Lord.” ⁹ For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, ¹⁰ and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”^{[a] 11} And when they had brought their boats to land, ^(L)they left everything and followed him.

Jesus Calls Levi

^27 (A)After this he went out and saw ^(B)a tax collector named ^(C)Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” ²⁸ And ^(D)leaving everything, he rose and followed him.

²⁹ And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company ^(E)of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. ³⁰ And the Pharisees and ^(F)their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, ^(G)“Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” ³¹ And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ^32 (H)I have not come to call the righteous ^(I)but sinners ^(J)to repentance.”