Matthew the Tax Collector^(A)

^27 (B)After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, ^(C)“Follow Me.” ²⁸ So he left all, rose up, and ^(D)followed Him.

^29 (E)Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house. And ^(F)there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them. ^30 [a]And their scribes and the Pharisees ^[b]complained against His disciples, saying, ^(G)“Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

³¹ Jesus answered and said to 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, but sinners, to repentance.”

Jesus Is Questioned About Fasting^(I)

³³ Then they said to Him, ^(J)“Why^[c] do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?”

³⁴ And He said to them, “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the ^(K)bridegroom is with them? ³⁵ But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days.”

^36 (L)Then He spoke a parable to them: “No one ^[d]puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old. ³⁷ And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. ³⁸ But new wine must be put into new wineskins, ^[e]and both are preserved. ³⁹ And no one, having drunk old wine, ^[f]immediately desires new; for he says, ‘The old is ^[g]better.’ ”

Judah Will Be Restored

Stewards of the Mysteries of God

4 Let a man so consider us, as ^(A)servants of Christ ^(B)and stewards of the mysteries of God. ² Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful. ³ But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human ^[a]court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. ⁴ For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord. ^5 (C)Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to ^(D)light the hidden things of darkness and ^(E)reveal the ^[b]counsels of the hearts. ^(F)Then each one’s praise will come from God.

Fools for Christ’s Sake

⁶ Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that you may learn in us not to think beyond what is written, that none of you may be ^[c]puffed up on behalf of one against the other. ⁷ For who ^[d]makes you differ from another? And ^(G)what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?

⁸ You are already full! ^(H)You are already rich! You have reigned as kings without us—and indeed I could wish you did reign, that we also might reign with you! ⁹ For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a ^(I)spectacle ^[e]to the world, both to angels and to men. ¹⁰ We are ^(J)fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ! ^(K)We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored! ¹¹ To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless. ^12 (L)And we labor, working with our own hands. ^(M)Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; ¹³ being defamed, we ^[f]entreat. ^(N)We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now.