Mark 2:14-22
14 Then, moving on, He saw Levi(A) the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office,(B) and He said to him, “Follow Me!”(C) So he got up and followed(D) Him.
Dining with Sinners
15 While He was reclining at the table in Levi’s house, many tax collectors(E) and sinners(F) were also guests(a)(G) with Jesus and His disciples, because there were many who were following Him.
16 When the scribes(H) of the Pharisees(b)(I) saw that He was eating(J) with sinners(K) and tax collectors,(L) they asked His disciples, “Why does He eat(c) with tax collectors and sinners?”
17 When Jesus heard this, He told them, “Those who are well don’t need(M) a doctor,(N) but the sick(O) do need one. I didn’t come to call the righteous,(P) but sinners.”(Q)
A Question about Fasting
18 Now(R) John’s(S) disciples(T) and the Pharisees(d)(U) were fasting.(V) People came and asked Him, “Why do John’s disciples and the Pharisees’ disciples fast, but Your disciples do not fast?”
19 Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests(e) cannot fast while the groom(W) is with them, can they? As long as they have the groom with them, they cannot fast.
20 But the time(f) will come(X) when the groom is taken away from them,(Y) and then they will fast(Z) in that day.
21 No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new patch pulls away from the old cloth,(AA) and a worse tear is made.
22 And no one puts new wine(AB) into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst(AC) the skins, and the wine is lost as well as the skins.(g) But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”
Footnotes:
a.
Mark 2:15: Lit reclining (at the table); at important meals the custom was to recline on a mat at a low table and lean on the left elbow.
b.
Mark 2:16: Other mss read scribes and Pharisees
c.
Mark 2:16: Other mss add and drink
d.
Mark 2:18: Other mss read the disciples of John and of the Pharisees
e.
Mark 2:19: Lit The sons of the bridal chamber
f.
Mark 2:20: Lit the days
g.
Mark 2:22: Other mss read the wine spills out and the skins will be ruined
Cross references:
H.
Mark 2:16:
Matthew 2:4
M.
Mark 2:17:
Matthew 6:8
X.
Mark 2:20:
Mark 13:24
Z.
Mark 2:20:
Luke 18:12
AA.
Mark 2:21:
Luke 19:36