Matthew Called

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

¹⁰ Then it happened that as ^[a]Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and ^[b]sinners came and began 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 Now go and learn ^[c](F)what this means: ‘^(G)I desire ^[d]compassion, ^[e]rather than sacrifice,’ for ^(H)I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

⁹ Now He also told this parable to some people who ^(A)trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and ^(B)viewed others with contempt: ¹⁰ “Two men ^(C)went up into the ^[a]temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee ^(D)stood and began praying this in regard to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, crooked, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ¹² I ^(E)fast twice a week; I ^(F)pay tithes of all that I get.’ ¹³ But the tax collector, ^(G)standing some distance away, ^(H)was even unwilling to raise his eyes toward heaven, but ^(I)was beating his chest, saying, ‘God, be ^[b]merciful to me, the sinner!’ ¹⁴ I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other one; ^(J)for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”