Levi (Matthew) Called

14 aAs He passed by, He saw 1bLevi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax booth, and He * said to him, “cFollow Me!” And he got up and followed Him.

15 And it * 1happened that He was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and 2sinners 3were dining with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many of them, and they were following Him.

16 When athe scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, “bWhy is He eating and drinking with tax collectors and 1sinners?”

17 And hearing this, Jesus * said to them, “aIt 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 aJohn’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 bridegroom is with them, 1the attendants of the bridegroom cannot fast, can they? So long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.

20 “But the adays will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.

21 “No one sews 1a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; otherwise 2the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear results.

22 “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.”