EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Matthew 9:13
13Go and study what it says in the Bible. God says there, “I want people to be kind to each other. I do not want them only to offer sacrifices to me.” Some people think that they always obey God. I did not come to help people like that. Some people know that they have done wrong things. I am asking those people to come to me for help.’
Matthew 9:13 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
- New International Version (NIV)But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)Go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."
- New King James Version (NKJV)But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
Context of Matthew 9:13
11Some Pharisees saw what was happening. They said to Jesus' disciples, ‘Your teacher is eating a meal with these bad people. That is not right. They are people who do not obey God, and some of them take taxes from people.’ 12Jesus heard what the Pharisees were saying. He said to them, ‘People who are well do not need a doctor. It is people who are ill that need a doctor. Go and study what it says in the Bible. God says there, “I want people to be kind to each other. I do not want them only to offer sacrifices to me.” Some people think that they always obey God. I did not come to help people like that. Some people know that they have done wrong things. I am asking those people to come to me for help.’ 14Then the disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus. They said to him, ‘We often decide to fast for a time. The disciples of the Pharisees also do that. Why do your disciples never do that?’ 15Jesus answered them: ‘When a man marries, his friends cannot be sad. They cannot refuse to eat food while he is with them. But there will be a time when people will take the man away from his friends. At that time his friends will choose to fast.’
Read all of Matthew 9Matthew 9:13 word by word
πορευθέντες δὲ μάθετε τί ἐστιν· ἔλεος θέλω καὶ οὐ θυσίαν· οὐ γὰρ ἦλθον καλέσαι δικαίους ἀλλ᾽ ἁμαρτωλούςRead the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Butδέde · thenG1161
- go ye andπορεύωporeuomai · to travelG4198
- learnμανθάνωmanthanō · to learnG3129
- whatτίςtis · which?G5101
- meanethεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
- I will haveθέλωthelō ethelō · to will/desireG2309
- mercyἔλεοςeleos · mercyG1656
- andκαίkai · andG2532
- notοὐou · noG3756
- sacrificeθυσίαthusia · sacrificeG2378
- forγάρgar · forG1063
- I amἔρχομαιerchomai · to come/goG2064
- to callκαλέωkaleō · to call: callG2564
- the righteousδίκαιοςdikaios · justG1342
- butἀλλάalla · butG235
- sinnersἁμαρτωλόςhamartōlos · sinfulG268
- toεἰςeis · towardG1519
- repentanceμετάνοιαmetanoia · repentanceG3341
Cross-references for Matthew 9:13
- Matthew 12:3Jesus replied, ‘You have certainly read about what David did one day. He and the men who were with him were hungry.
- Matthew 19:4Jesus replied, ‘You surely have read about this in the Bible. At the start, when God created the world, he made people male and female.
- Matthew 21:42Jesus said to them, ‘I am sure that you have read this in the Bible: “The builders refused to use a certain stone. They thought that it had no value. But now that stone has become the most important stone at the corner of the building. The Lord God did this. And we can see that he did something great.”
- Matthew 22:31It is true that one day dead people will become alive again. You have read in the Bible about what God said to you:
- Mark 12:26But God does make dead people alive again! You have read what Moses wrote about the bush in the wilderness. There, God said to Moses, “I am the God of Abraham. I am the God of Isaac. And I am the God of Jacob.”
- Luke 10:26‘What does God's Law say?’ Jesus asked. ‘What do you understand when you read it?’
- John 10:34Jesus answered them, ‘It is written in your own books of God's Law that God said, “You are gods.”
- Proverbs 21:3If you do what is right and fair, it pleases the Lord more than sacrifices.
- Hosea 6:6It is faithful love that makes me happy. That would be better than your sacrifices to me. You should know me as your God. That would be better than your burnt offerings.
- Micah 6:6‘I come to meet with the Lord,’ you say. ‘I must know what to bring when I come. I bend down to worship him. I must know what to offer when I bend down. He is God and he is greater than everything. Perhaps he would like it if I burn young cows one year old for him.
- Matthew 18:11[I, the Son of Man, came to look for those who are far away from God.]
- Mark 2:17Jesus heard what these people were saying. He said to them, ‘People who are well do not need a doctor. It is people who are ill that need a doctor. Some people think that they always obey God. I did not come to help people like that. Some people know that they have done wrong things. I am asking those people to come to me for help.’
- Luke 5:32Some people think that they always obey God. I have not come to help people like that. Some people know that they have done wrong things. I am asking those people to come to me for help. I want them to change how they live.’
- Luke 15:3So Jesus told them this story:
- Luke 19:10I, the Son of Man, came to look for people who are far away from God. They are in danger and I have come to save them.’
- Romans 3:10This is written in the Bible: ‘There is nobody who is right with God. There is not even one person who is like that.
Commentaries on Matthew 9:13
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 13I will have mercy, and not sacrifice - Quoted from 1 Samuel 15:22. These are remarkable words. We may understand them as implying, 1st. That God prefers an act of mercy, shown to the necessitous, to any act of religious worship to which the person might be called at that time. Both are good; but the former is the greater good, and should be done in preference to the other. 2dly. That the whole sacrificial system was intended only to point out the infinite…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 13But go ye and learn - To reprove them, and to vindicate his own conduct, he appealed to a passage of Scripture with which they ought to have been acquainted: “I will have mercy, and not sacrifice,” Hosea 6:6. This is not a declaration on the part of God that he was opposed to “sacrifices” or “offerings for sin;” for he had appointed and commanded many, and had therefore expressed his approbation of them. It is a Hebrew mode of speaking, and means, “I…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 10-13Verses 10-13 Some time after his call, Matthew sought to bring his old associates to hear Christ. He knew by experience what the grace of Christ could do, and would not despair concerning them. Those who are effectually brought to Christ, cannot but desire that others also may be brought to him. Those who suppose their souls to be without disease will not welcome the spiritual Physician. This was the case with the Pharisees; they despised Christ, because…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 13I desire mercy, not sacrifice: Jesus applies this desire of God to eating with sinners. Jesus showed mercy by eating with them. This contrasted with the Pharisees who avoided sinners. They considered their avoidance to symbolize sacrifices. Jesus exposed the Pharisees' true spiritual state. The Pharisees considered themselves to be righteous. But they were actually unrighteous and needed the Messiah to save them (Matthew 7:1–5; 8:11–12; 19:30; 20:16…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1313. But go ye and learn what that meaneth--(Ho 6:6), I will have mercy, and not sacrifice--that is, the one rather than the other. "Sacrifice," the chief part of the ceremonial law, is here put for a religion of literal adherence to mere rules; while "mercy" expresses such compassion for the fallen as seeks to lift them up. The duty of keeping aloof from the polluted, in the sense of "having no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness," is obvious…Read the comment
Topics related to Matthew 9:13
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Matthew 9
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Catena Aurea
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- John Lightfoot Commentary
- Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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