Matthew the Tax Collector^(A)

^9 (B)As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him.

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.

^14 (A)As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, ^(B)“Follow Me.” So he arose and ^(C)followed Him.

^15 (D)Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi’s house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him. ¹⁶ And when the scribes ^[a]and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, “How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹⁷ When Jesus heard it, He said to them, ^(E)“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, ^[b]to repentance.”

Jesus Is Questioned About Fasting^(F)

^18 (G)The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting. Then they came and said to Him, “Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?”

¹⁹ And Jesus said to them, “Can the ^[c]friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. ²⁰ But the days will come when the bridegroom will be ^(H)taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days. ²¹ No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse. ²² And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.”

² Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. ³ And he sought to ^(A)see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature. ⁴ So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way. ⁵ And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up ^[a]and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, ^[b]make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” ⁶ So he ^[c]made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. ⁷ But when they saw it, they all ^[d]complained, saying, ^(B)“He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.”

⁸ Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the ^(C)poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by ^(D)false accusation, ^(E)I restore fourfold.”

⁹ And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because ^(F)he also is ^(G)a son of Abraham; ^10 (H)for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

¹⁸ Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite;

^16 (A)to reveal His Son in me, that ^(B)I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with ^(C)flesh and blood,

Elisha Follows Elijah

¹⁹ So he departed from there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Then Elijah passed by him and threw his ^(A)mantle on him. ²⁰ And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said, ^(B)“Please let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.”

And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?”

²¹ So Elisha turned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen and slaughtered them and ^(C)boiled their flesh, using the oxen’s equipment, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah, and became his servant.

¹³ And when they had entered, they went up ^(A)into the upper room where they were staying: ^(B)Peter, James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and ^(C)Simon the Zealot; and ^(D)Judas the son of James.

¹⁵ Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot;