Matthew 9:9-17

Christian Standard Bible

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.”