Matthew 9:13 is a verse in the ninth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. Content In the original Greek according to Westcott-Hort this verse is: Πορευθέντες δὲ μάθετε τί ἐστιν, Ἔλεον θέλω, καὶ οὐ θυσίαν· οὐ γὰρ ἦλθον καλέσαι δικαίους, ἀλλ᾿ ἁμαρτωλοὺς εἰς μετάνοιαν. In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads: 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. The New International Version translates the passage as: But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Analysis "But go" is said by many to be a rebuke, as if Jesus had said, "depart out of My sight". The words which are quoted are from Hosea 6:6. Lapide notes that sacrifice was considered one of the noblest elements of religion which shows the high regard placed on mercy. The NIV leaves out "to repentance" (εἰς μετάνοιαν in Greek). Some have understood this statement to mean that Jesus only calls sinners to repentance, while those who are just he merely calls to follow him. However church fathers such as Hilary, Jerome, and Bede understand the words to be, "I came not to call the righteous, that is, those who proudly, but falsely esteem and boast themselves to be righteous, when they are in truth sinners and hypocrites, such as you Pharisees." Commentary from the Church Fathers Chrysostom: "Having first spoken in accordance with common opinion, He now addresses them out of Scripture, saying, Go ye, and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice." Jerome: "This text from Osee (Hosea 6:6.) is directed against the Scribes and Pharisees, who, deeming themselves righteous, refused to keep company with Publicans and sinners." Chrysostom: " As much as to say; How do you accuse me for reforming sinners? Therefore in this you accuse God the Father also. For as He wills the amendment of sinners, even so also do I. And He shows that this that they blamed was not only not forbidden, but was even by the Law set above sacrifice; for He said not, I will have mercy as well as sacrifice, but chooses the one and rejects the other." Glossa Ordinaria: " Yet does not God contemn