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 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 groom cannot mourn as long as the groom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the groom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. ¹⁶ But no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for ^[g]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 office, and He *said to him, “^(C)Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him.

¹⁵ And it *happened that He was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and ^[b]sinners were ^[c]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 ^[d]sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, “^(E)Why is He eating 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 groom is with them, ^[f]the attendants of the groom cannot fast, can they? As long as they have the groom with them, they cannot fast. ²⁰ But the ^(H)days will come when the groom is taken away from them, and then they will fast, on that day.

²¹ “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; otherwise, ^[g]the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear results. ²² And 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.”

Call of Levi (Matthew)

^27 (A)After that He went out and looked at a tax collector named ^[a](B)Levi sitting in the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me.” ²⁸ And he ^(C)left everything behind, and got up and began following Him.

²⁹ And ^(D)Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a large crowd of ^(E)tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them. ^30 (F)The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling to His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and ^[b]sinners?” ³¹ And Jesus answered and said to them, “^(G)It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. ³² I have not come to call the righteous to repentance, but sinners.”

³³ And they said to Him, “^(H)The disciples of John often fast and offer prayers, the disciples of the Pharisees also do ^[c]the same, but Yours eat and drink.” ³⁴ And Jesus said to them, “You cannot make the ^[d]attendants of the groom fast while the groom is with them, can you? ^35 (I)But the days will come; and when the groom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.” ³⁶ And He was also telling them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the patch from the new garment will not match the old. ³⁷ And no one pours new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. ³⁸ But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.