The Call of Matthew

⁹ As Jesus went on from there,^(A) he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, “Follow me,” and he got up and followed him.^(B)

¹⁰ While he was reclining at the table in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came to eat with Jesus and his disciples.^{(C) 11} When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ^(D)

¹² Now when he heard this, he said, “It is not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are sick.^{(E) 13} Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice.^[a](F) For I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.”^[b]

A Question about Fasting

¹⁴ Then John’s disciples came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?” ^(G)

¹⁵ Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests^[c] be sad while the groom is with them? The time^[d] will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. ¹⁶ No one patches an old garment with unshrunk cloth, because the patch pulls away from the garment and makes the tear worse. ¹⁷ And no one puts^[e] new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. No, they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”

¹⁴ Then, passing by, he saw Levi^(A) the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office,^(B) and he said to him, “Follow me,”^(C) and he got up and followed^(D) him.

¹⁵ While he was reclining at the table in Levi’s house, many tax collectors^(E) and sinners^(F) were eating^[a] with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who were following him. ¹⁶ When the scribes^(G) who were Pharisees^[b](H) saw that he was eating^(I) with sinners^(J) and tax collectors,^(K) they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat^[c] with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹⁷ When Jesus heard this, he told them, “It is not those who are well who need^(L) a doctor,^(M) but those who are sick.^(N) I didn’t come to call the righteous,^(O) but sinners.”^(P)

A Question about Fasting

¹⁸ Now^(Q) John’s^(R) disciples^(S) and the Pharisees^[d](T) were fasting.^(U) People came and asked him, “Why do John’s disciples and the Pharisees’ disciples fast, but your disciples do not fast?”

¹⁹ Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot fast while the groom^(V) is with them, can they? As long as they have the groom with them, they cannot fast. ²⁰ But the time^[e] will come^(W) when the groom will be taken away from them,^(X) and then they will fast^(Y) on that day. ²¹ No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new patch pulls away from the old cloth,^(Z) and a worse tear is made. ²² And no one puts new wine^(AA) into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst^(AB) the skins, and the wine is lost as well as the skins. No, new wine is put into fresh wineskins.”