Matthew 9:9-15

New International Version

The Calling of Matthew^(A)

⁹ As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,”^(B) he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

¹⁰ While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. ¹¹ When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”^(C)

¹² On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. ¹³ But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’^[a](D) For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”^(E)

Jesus Questioned About Fasting^(F)

¹⁴ Then John’s^(G) disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often,^(H) but your disciples do not fast?”

¹⁵ Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them?^(I) The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.^(J)