Mark 2:13-22

Jesus Calls Levi

13 He went out again beside the sea, and 1all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them.
14 2And as he passed by, he saw 3Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, "Follow me." And he rose and followed him.
15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many 4tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him.
16 And 5the scribes of[a] the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, 6"Why does he eat[b] with tax collectors and sinners?"
17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 7I came not to call the righteous, 8but sinners."

A Question About Fasting

18 Now 9John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, 10"Why do John's disciples and 11the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?"
19 And Jesus said to them, 12"Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.
20 13The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and 14then they will fast in that day.
21 No 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.
22 And no one puts new wine into old 15wineskins. 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."[c]

Cross References 15

  • 1. See Mark 1:45
  • 2. For ver. 14-22, see Matthew 9:9-17; Luke 5:27-38
  • 3. [Matthew 9:9]
  • 4. Matthew 11:19; Luke 15:2
  • 5. Acts 4:5; Acts 23:9
  • 6. [See ver. 15 above]
  • 7. [Luke 15:7; John 9:39]
  • 8. 1 Timothy 1:15
  • 9. Matthew 11:2; John 4:12">1John 4:12; Luke 11:1; John 1:35; John 3:25; John 4:1; [Acts 18:25; Acts 19:3]
  • 10. [Mark 7:5]
  • 11. Luke 18:12
  • 12. John 3:29
  • 13. See Luke 17:22
  • 14. [John 16:20]
  • 15. Joshua 9:4

Footnotes 3

  • [a]. Some manuscripts and
  • [b]. Some manuscripts add and drink
  • [c]. Some manuscripts omit But new wine is for fresh wineskins
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.