“No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse.”
King James Version (KJV)
9:16 This is one reason, - It is not a proper time for them to fast. Another is, they are not ripe for it. New cloth - The words in the original properly signify cloth that hath not passed through the fuller's hands, and which is consequently much harsher than what has been washed and worn; and therefore yielding less than that, will tear away the edges to which it is sewed.
Mt 9:16 No man putteth, etc. Two illustrations follow to show the folly of patching up, or reforming, an old, worn out religion like Judaism. New cloth. Cloth that has been shrunk. In shrinking it would tear the old cloth around it, and make a worse rent than before.