Matthew 9:9-26

New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised

The Calling of Matthew

⁹ As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.

¹⁰ And as he sat at dinner^[a] in the house, many tax-collectors and sinners came and were sitting^[b] with him and his disciples. ¹¹ When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax-collectors and sinners?’ ¹² But when he heard this, he said, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³ Go and learn what this means, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.’

The Question about Fasting

¹⁴ Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, ‘Why do we and the Pharisees fast often,^[c] but your disciples do not fast?’ ¹⁵ And Jesus said to them, ‘The wedding-guests cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. ¹⁶ No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak, for the patch pulls away from the cloak, and a worse tear is made. ¹⁷ Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.’

A Girl Restored to Life and a Woman Healed

¹⁸ While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader of the synagogue^[d] came in and knelt before him, saying, ‘My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.’ ¹⁹ And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. ²⁰ Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from haemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, ²¹ for she said to herself, ‘If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.’ ²² Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, ‘Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.’ And instantly the woman was made well. ²³ When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute-players and the crowd making a commotion, ²⁴ he said, ‘Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.’ And they laughed at him. ²⁵ But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. ²⁶ And the report of this spread throughout that district.