Mark 2:13-17 - Levi Called To Follow Jesus

¹³ Again He went out to the shore of the Lake, and the whole multitude kept coming to Him, and He taught them. ¹⁴ And as He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the Toll Office, and said to him, "Follow me." So he rose and followed Him.

¹⁵ When He was sitting at table in Levi's house, a large number of tax-gatherers and notorious sinners were at table with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many such who habitually followed Him. ¹⁶ But when the Scribes of the Pharisee sect saw Him eating with the sinners and the tax-gatherers, they said to His disciples, "He is eating and drinking with the tax-gatherers and sinners!"

¹⁷ Jesus heard the words, and He said, "It is not the healthy who require a doctor, but the sick: I did not come to appeal to the righteous, but to sinners."

²⁷ After this He went out and noticed a tax-gatherer, Levi by name, sitting at the Toll office; and He said to him, "Follow me." ²⁸ He rose, left everything, and followed Him.

²⁹ Levi also gave a great entertainment at his house in honour of Jesus, and there was a large party of tax-gatherers and others at table with them. ³⁰ This led the Pharisees and Scribes of their party to expostulate with His disciples and ask, "Why are you eating and drinking with these tax-gatherers and notorious sinners?"

³¹ But Jesus replied to them, "It is not men in good health who require a physician, but the sick. ³² I have not come to call the righteous to repentance, but sinners."