13 But go and[a] learn what it means, “I want mercy and not sacrifice.”[b] For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

On Fasting

14 Then the disciples of John[c] approached him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?” 15 And Jesus said to them, “The bridegroom’s attendants[d] are not able to mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them. But days are coming when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Matthew 9:13 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“go”) has been translated as a finite verb
  2. Matthew 9:13 A quotation from Hos 6:6 (see also Matt 12:7)
  3. Matthew 9:14 That is, John the Baptist
  4. Matthew 9:15 Literally “the sons of the bridal chamber”