¹⁴ Then, passing by, he saw Levi^(A) the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office,^(B) and he said to him, “Follow me,”^(C) and he got up and followed^(D) him.

¹⁵ While he was reclining at the table in Levi’s house, many tax collectors^(E) and sinners^(F) were eating^[a] with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who were following him. ¹⁶ When the scribes^(G) who were Pharisees^[b](H) saw that he was eating^(I) with sinners^(J) and tax collectors,^(K) they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat^[c] with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹⁷ When Jesus heard this, he told them, “It is not those who are well who need^(L) a doctor,^(M) but those who are sick.^(N) I didn’t come to call the righteous,^(O) but sinners.”^(P)

A Question about Fasting

¹⁸ Now^(Q) John’s^(R) disciples^(S) and the Pharisees^[d](T) were fasting.^(U) People came and asked him, “Why do John’s disciples and the Pharisees’ disciples fast, but your disciples do not fast?”

¹⁹ Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot fast while the groom^(V) is with them, can they? As long as they have the groom with them, they cannot fast. ²⁰ But the time^[e] will come^(W) when the groom will be taken away from them,^(X) and then they will fast^(Y) on that day. ²¹ No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new patch pulls away from the old cloth,^(Z) and a worse tear is made. ²² And no one puts new wine^(AA) into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst^(AB) the skins, and the wine is lost as well as the skins. No, new wine is put into fresh wineskins.”

The Call of Levi

²⁷ After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax office,^(A) and he said to him, “Follow me.” ²⁸ So, leaving everything behind, he got up and began to follow him.

²⁹ Then Levi hosted a grand banquet for him at his house. Now there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others who were reclining at the table with them.^{(B) 30} But the Pharisees and their scribes^(C) were complaining to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

³¹ Jesus replied to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a doctor, but those who are sick. ³² I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

A Question about Fasting

³³ Then they said to him, “John’s disciples fast often and say prayers, and those of the Pharisees do the same, but yours eat and drink.”

³⁴ Jesus said to them, “You can’t make the wedding guests fast while the groom is with them, can you? ³⁵ But the time^[a] will come^(D) when the groom will be taken away from them—then they will fast in those days.”

³⁶ He also told them a parable: “No one tears a patch from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. Otherwise, not only will he tear the new, but also the piece from the new garment will not match the old. ³⁷ And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins, it will spill, and the skins will be ruined. ³⁸ No, new wine is put into fresh wineskins.^[b]