Matthew Called

^9 (A)As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called ^(B)Matthew, sitting in the tax collector’s booth; 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 were dining with Jesus and His disciples. ¹¹ 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 ^[c](F)what this means: ‘^(G)I desire ^[d]compassion, ^[e]and not sacrifice,’ for ^(H)I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

The Question about Fasting

¹⁴ Then the disciples of John *came to Him, asking, “Why do we and ^(I)the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁵ And Jesus said to them, “The ^[f]attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. ¹⁶ But no one puts ^[g]a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for ^[h]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 (Matthew) Called

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

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

^18 (G)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, “While the bridegroom is with them, ^[f]the attendants of the bridegroom cannot fast, can they? 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 patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; otherwise ^[h]the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear results. ²² 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.”