Matthew 9:9–17

Matthew Called to Follow Jesus

⁹And as^* Jesus was going away from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth and said to him, “Follow me!” And he stood up and^* followed him.

¹⁰And it happened as^* he was dining^c in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners were coming and^* dining^d with Jesus and his disciples. ¹¹And when they^* saw it,^* the Pharisees began to say to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ¹²And when he^* heard it,^* he said, “Those who are healthy do not have need of a physician, but those who are sick.^{e 13}But go and^* learn what it means, “I want mercy and not sacrifice.”^f For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

On Fasting

¹⁴Then the disciples of John^g approached him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁵And Jesus said to them, “The bridegroom’s attendants^h are not able to mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them. But days are coming when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. ¹⁶But no one puts a patch of unshrunken cloth on an old garment, for its patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear becomes worse. ¹⁷Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwiseⁱ the wineskins burst and the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are destroyed. But they put new wine into new wineskins and both are preserved.”