Jesus Calls Matthew

^9 (A)As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called ^(B)Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

¹⁰ And as Jesus^[a] reclined at table in the house, behold, many ^(C)tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. ¹¹ And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ^(D)“Why does your teacher eat with ^(E)tax collectors and sinners?” ¹² But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³ Go and learn ^(F)what this means: ^(G)‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For ^(H)I came not to call the righteous, ^(I)but sinners.”

A Question About Fasting

¹⁴ Then ^(J)the disciples of John came to him, saying, ^(K)“Why do we and ^(L)the Pharisees fast,^[b] but your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁵ And Jesus said to them, ^(M)“Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? ^(N)The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and ^(O)then they will fast. ¹⁶ No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. ¹⁷ Neither is new wine put into old ^(P)wineskins. If it is, 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.”

^14 (A)And as he passed by, he saw ^(B)Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

¹⁵ And as he reclined at table in his house, many ^(C)tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. ¹⁶ And ^(D)the scribes of^[a] the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, ^(E)“Why does he eat^[b] with tax collectors and sinners?” ¹⁷ And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ^(F)I came not to call the righteous, ^(G)but sinners.”

A Question About Fasting

¹⁸ Now ^(H)John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, ^(I)“Why do John's disciples and ^(J)the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁹ And Jesus said to them, ^(K)“Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. ^20 (L)The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and ^(M)then they will fast in that day. ²¹ No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. ²² And no one puts new wine into old ^(N)wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”^[c]