Matthew and Sinners Called

^9 (A)And as Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called ^(B)Matthew, sitting in the tax office; and He *said to him, “^(C)Follow Me!” And he stood up and followed Him.

^10 [a]Then it happened that as ^[b]Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and ^[c]sinners came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples. ¹¹ And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “^(D)Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?” ¹² But when Jesus heard this, He said, “It is not ^(E)those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³ But go and learn ^[d](F)what this means: ‘^(G)I desire ^[e]compassion, ^[f]and not sacrifice,’ for ^(H)I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

A Question About Fasting

¹⁴ Then the disciples of John *came to Him, ^[g]asking, “Why do we and ^(I)the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁵ And Jesus said to them, “Can the ^[h]attendants of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. ¹⁶ But no one puts ^[i]a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for ^[j]the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results. ¹⁷ Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out and the wineskins are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”

Levi and Sinners Called

^14 (A)And as He passed by, He saw ^[a](B)Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax office, and He *said to him, “^(C)Follow Me!” And he stood up and followed Him.

¹⁵ And it *^[b]happened that as He was reclining at the table in his house, many tax collectors and ^[c]sinners ^[d]were reclining with Jesus and His disciples. For there were many of them, and they were following Him. ¹⁶ And when ^(D)the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they were saying to His disciples, “^(E)He is eating and drinking with tax collectors and ^[e]sinners!” ¹⁷ And hearing this, Jesus *said to them, “^(F)Those who are healthy do not have need for a physician, but only those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

^18 (G)And John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and they *came and *said to Him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁹ And Jesus said to them, “Can ^[f]the attendants of the bridegroom fast when the bridegroom is with them? So long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. ²⁰ But the ^(H)days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.

²¹ “No one sews ^[g]a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; otherwise ^[h]that patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear results. ²² And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the skins as well; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.”

Levi and Sinners Called

^27 (A)And after that He went out and noticed a tax collector named ^[a](B)Levi sitting in the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me.” ²⁸ And he ^(C)left everything behind, and rose up and began to follow Him.

²⁹ And ^(D)Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a great crowd of ^(E)tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them. ^30 (F)And the Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and ^[b]sinners?” ³¹ And Jesus answered and said to them, “^(G)It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. ³² I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

³³ And they said to Him, “^(H)The disciples of John often fast and offer prayers, the disciples of the Pharisees also do likewise, but Yours eat and drink.” ³⁴ And Jesus said to them, “Can you make the ^[c]attendants of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? ^35 (I)But the days will come; and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.” ³⁶ And He was also telling them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new and the piece from the new will not match the old. ³⁷ And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. ³⁸ But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.