Matthew the Tax Collector^(A)

^13 (B)Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them. ^14 (C)As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, ^(D)“Follow Me.” So he arose and ^(E)followed Him.

^15 (F)Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi’s house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him. ¹⁶ And when the scribes ^[a]and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, “How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹⁷ When Jesus heard it, He said to them, ^(G)“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, ^[b]to repentance.”

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

⁹ Also He spoke this parable to some ^(A)who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: ¹⁰ “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee ^(B)stood and prayed thus with himself, ^(C)‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ ¹³ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ ¹⁴ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; ^(D)for everyone who exalts himself will be ^[a]humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

⁴ Now ^(A)John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was ^(B)locusts and ^(C)wild honey. ^5 (D)Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him ^6 (E)and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.

⁷ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, ^(F)“Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from ^(G)the wrath to come? ⁸ Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, ⁹ and do not think to say to yourselves, ^(H)‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. ¹⁰ And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. ^(I)Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

^34 (A)Brood^[a] of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? ^(B)For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

²⁰ For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds ^(A)the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

¹⁰ As it is written:

²⁰ Therefore ^(A)by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

²⁸ Therefore we conclude ^(A)that a man is ^[a]justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.

Abraham Justified by Faith^(A)

4 What then shall we say that ^(B)Abraham our ^(C)father^[a] has found according to the flesh? ² For if Abraham was ^(D)justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. ³ For what does the Scripture say? ^(E)“Abraham believed God, and it was ^[b]accounted to him for righteousness.” ⁴ Now ^(F)to him who works, the wages are not counted ^[c]as grace but as debt.

David Celebrates the Same Truth

⁵ But to him who ^(G)does not work but believes on Him who justifies ^(H)the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,