Mark 2:14–22

^14eAnd as he passed by, he saw ^fLevi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

¹⁵And as he reclined at table in his house, many ^gtax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. ¹⁶And ^hthe scribes of¹ the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, ^g“Why does he eat² with tax collectors and sinners?” ¹⁷And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ⁱI came not to call the righteous, ^jbut sinners.”

A Question About Fasting

¹⁸Now ^kJohn’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, ^l“Why do John’s disciples and ^mthe disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁹And Jesus said to them, ⁿ“Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. ^20oThe days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and ^pthen they will fast in that day. ²¹No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. ²²And no one puts new wine into old ^qwineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”³