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.