⁹And Jesus passing by thence, saw a man sitting at the tax-office, named Matthew, and saith to him, ‘Be following me,’ and he, having risen, did follow him. ¹⁰And it came to pass, he reclining (at meat) in the house, that lo, many tax-gatherers and sinners having come, were lying (at meat) with Jesus and his disciples, ¹¹and the Pharisees having seen, said to his disciples, ‘Wherefore with the tax-gatherers and sinners doth your teacher eat?’ ¹²And Jesus having heard, said to them, ‘They who are whole have no need of a physician, but they who are ill; ¹³but having gone, learn ye what is, Kindness I will, and not sacrifice, for I did not come to call righteous men, but sinners, to reformation.’

¹⁴Then come to him do the disciples of John, saying, ‘Wherefore do we and the Pharisees fast much, and thy disciples fast not?’ ¹⁵And Jesus said to them, ‘Can the sons of the bride-chamber mourn, so long as the bridegroom is with them? but days shall come when the bridegroom may be taken from them, and then they shall fast.

¹⁶‘And no one doth put a patch of undressed cloth on an old garment, for its filling up doth take from the garment, and a worse rent is made.

¹⁷‘Nor do they put new wine into old skins, and if not—the skins burst, and the wine doth run out, and the skins are destroyed, but they put new wine into new skins, and both are preserved together.’

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Matthew 9:13: “Go and learn what this means, ‛I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

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