Jesus Calls Levi

(Matthew 9:9–13; Luke 5:27–32)

13 [Once] again [Jesus] went out beside the sea. All the people came to Him, and He taught them [there].

14 As He was walking along, He saw Levi [son] of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth. “Follow Me,” He told him, and [Levi] got up [and] followed Him.

15 While [Jesus] was dining at [Levi’s] house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with [Him] and His disciples—for there were many who followed Him. 16 When the scribes and Pharisees[fn] saw [Jesus] eating with [these people],[fn] they asked His disciples, “Why {does} He eat and drink[fn] with tax collectors and sinners?”

17 [On] hearing this, Jesus told them, “[It is] not the healthy [who] need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.[fn]”