¹⁴ Then, moving on, He saw Levi^(A) the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office,^(B) and He said to him, “Follow Me!”^(C) So he got up and followed^(D) Him.

Dining with Sinners

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

¹⁷ When Jesus heard this, He told them, “Those who are well don’t need^(M) a doctor,^(N) but the sick^(O) do need one. I didn’t come to call the righteous,^(P) but sinners.”^(Q)

A Question about Fasting

¹⁸ Now^(R) John’s^(S) disciples^(T) and the Pharisees^[d](U) were fasting.^(V) 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^[e] cannot fast while the groom^(W) is with them, can they? As long as they have the groom with them, they cannot fast. ²⁰ But the time^[f] will come^(X) when the groom is taken away from them,^(Y) and then they will fast^(Z) in 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,^(AA) and a worse tear is made. ²² And no one puts new wine^(AB) into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst^(AC) the skins, and the wine is lost as well as the skins.^[g] But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”

The Call of Matthew

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.

Dining with Sinners

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 guests^[a] 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, “The healthy don’t need a doctor, but the sick do. 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.”^[b]

³⁴ Jesus said to them, “You can’t make the wedding guests^[c] fast while the groom is with them, can you? ³⁵ But the time^[d] 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 But new wine should be put into fresh wineskins.^[e]