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They came to the other side of the sea to the region of the Gerasenes.

And as soon as He got out of the boat, there met Him out of the tombs a man [under the power] of an unclean spirit.

This man [a]continually lived among the tombs, and no one could subdue him any more, even with a chain;

For he had been bound often with shackles for the feet and [b]handcuffs, but the handcuffs of [light] chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he rubbed and ground together and broke in pieces; and no one had strength enough to restrain or tame him.

Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always [c]shrieking and screaming and [d]beating and bruising and [e]cutting himself with stones.

And when from a distance he saw Jesus, he ran and fell on his knees before Him in homage,

And crying out with a loud voice, he said, What have You to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? [What is there in common between us?] I [f]solemnly implore you by God, do not begin to torment me!

For Jesus was commanding, Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!

And He asked him, What is your name? He replied, My name is Legion, for we are many.

10 And he kept begging Him urgently not to send them [himself and the other demons] away out of that region.

11 Now a great herd of hogs was grazing there on the hillside.

12 And the demons begged Him, saying, Send us to the hogs, that we may go into them!

13 So He gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out [of the man] and entered into the hogs; and the herd, numbering about 2,000, rushed headlong down the steep slope into the sea and were drowned in the sea.

14 The hog feeders ran away, and told [it] in the town and in the country. And [the people] came to see what it was that had taken place.

15 And they came to Jesus and looked intently and searchingly at the man who had been a demoniac, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, [the same man] who had had the legion [of demons]; and they were [g]seized with alarm and struck with fear.

16 And those who had seen it related in full what had happened to the man possessed by demons and to the hogs.

17 And they began to beg [Jesus] to leave their neighborhood.

18 And when He had stepped into the boat, the man who had been controlled by the unclean spirits kept begging Him that he might be with Him.

19 But Jesus refused to permit him, but said to him, Go home to your own [family and relatives and friends] and bring back word to them of how much the Lord has done for you, and [how He has] had sympathy for you and mercy on you.

20 And he departed and began to publicly proclaim in Decapolis [the region of the ten cities] how much Jesus had done for him, and all the people were astonished and marveled.(A)

21 And when Jesus had recrossed in the boat to the other side, a great throng gathered about Him, and He was at the lakeshore.

22 Then one of the rulers of the synagogue came up, Jairus by name; and seeing Him, he prostrated himself at His feet

23 And begged Him earnestly, saying, My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay Your hands on her, so that she may be healed and live.

24 And Jesus went with him; and a great crowd kept following Him and pressed Him [h]from all sides [so as almost to suffocate Him].

25 And there was a woman who had had a flow of blood for twelve years,

26 And who had endured much [i]suffering under [the hands of] many physicians and had spent all that she had, and was no better but instead grew worse.

27 She had heard the reports concerning Jesus, and she came up behind Him in the throng and touched His garment,

28 For she kept saying, If I only touch His garments, I shall be restored to health.

29 And immediately her flow of blood was dried up at the source, and [[j]suddenly] she felt in her body that she was healed of her [[k]distressing] ailment.

30 And Jesus, recognizing in Himself that the power proceeding from Him had gone forth, turned around immediately in the crowd and said, Who touched My clothes?

31 And the disciples kept saying to Him, You see the crowd pressing hard around You [l]from all sides, and You ask, Who touched Me?

32 Still He kept looking around to see her who had done it.

33 But the woman, knowing what had been done for her, though alarmed and frightened and trembling, fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.

34 And He said to her, Daughter, your faith (your [m]trust and confidence in Me, springing from faith in God) has restored you to health. Go in [n](into) peace and be continually healed and freed from your [[o]distressing bodily] disease.

35 While He was still speaking, there came some from the ruler’s house, who said [to Jairus], Your daughter has died. Why bother and distress the Teacher any further?

36 [p]Overhearing but ignoring what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, Do not be seized with alarm and struck with fear; only keep on believing.

37 And He permitted no one to accompany Him except Peter and James and John the brother of James.

38 When they arrived at the house of the ruler of the synagogue, He [q]looked [carefully and with understanding] at [the] tumult and the people weeping and wailing loudly.

39 And when He had gone in, He said to them, Why do you make an uproar and weep? The little girl is not dead but is sleeping.

40 And they laughed and [r]jeered at Him. But He put them all out, and, taking the child’s father and mother and those who were with Him, He went in where the little girl was lying.

41 Gripping her [firmly] by the hand, He said to her, Talitha cumi—which translated is, Little girl, I say to you, arise [[s]from the sleep of death]!

42 And instantly the girl got up and started walking around—for she was twelve years old. And they were utterly astonished and overcome with amazement.

43 And He strictly commanded and warned them that no one should know this, and He [[t]expressly] told them to give her [something] to eat.

Footnotes

  1. Mark 5:3 Kenneth Wuest, Word Studies.
  2. Mark 5:4 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
  3. Mark 5:5 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
  4. Mark 5:5 James Moulton and George Milligan, The Vocabulary.
  5. Mark 5:5 G. Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon.
  6. Mark 5:7 Kenneth Wuest, Word Studies.
  7. Mark 5:15 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
  8. Mark 5:24 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
  9. Mark 5:26 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
  10. Mark 5:29 Kenneth Wuest, Word Studies.
  11. Mark 5:29 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
  12. Mark 5:31 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
  13. Mark 5:34 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
  14. Mark 5:34 Kenneth Wuest, Word Studies.
  15. Mark 5:34 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
  16. Mark 5:36 Some manuscripts so read.
  17. Mark 5:38 Kenneth Wuest, Word Studies.
  18. Mark 5:40 G. Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon.
  19. Mark 5:41 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
  20. Mark 5:43 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.

1-2 When they arrived at the other side of the lake, a demon-possessed man ran out from a graveyard, just as Jesus was climbing from the boat.

3-4 This man lived among the gravestones and had such strength that whenever he was put into handcuffs and shackles—as he often was—he snapped the handcuffs from his wrists and smashed the shackles and walked away. No one was strong enough to control him. All day long and through the night he would wander among the tombs and in the wild hills, screaming and cutting himself with sharp pieces of stone.

When Jesus was still far out on the water, the man had seen him and had run to meet him, and fell down before him.

7-8 Then Jesus spoke to the demon within the man and said, “Come out, you evil spirit.”

It gave a terrible scream, shrieking, “What are you going to do to me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? For God’s sake, don’t torture me!”

“What is your name?” Jesus asked, and the demon replied, “Legion, for there are many of us here within this man.”

10 Then the demons begged him again and again not to send them to some distant land.

11 Now as it happened there was a huge herd of hogs rooting around on the hill above the lake. 12 “Send us into those hogs,” the demons begged.

13 And Jesus gave them permission. Then the evil spirits came out of the man and entered the hogs, and the entire herd plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned.

14 The herdsmen fled to the nearby towns and countryside, spreading the news as they ran. Everyone rushed out to see for themselves. 15 And a large crowd soon gathered where Jesus was; but as they saw the man sitting there, fully clothed and perfectly sane, they were frightened. 16 Those who saw what happened were telling everyone about it, 17 and the crowd began pleading with Jesus to go away and leave them alone! 18 So he got back into the boat. The man who had been possessed by the demons begged Jesus to let him go along. 19 But Jesus said no.

“Go home to your friends,” he told him, “and tell them what wonderful things God has done for you; and how merciful he has been.”

20 So the man started off to visit the Ten Towns[a] of that region and began to tell everyone about the great things Jesus had done for him; and they were awestruck by his story.

21 When Jesus had gone across by boat to the other side of the lake, a vast crowd gathered around him on the shore.

22 The leader of the local synagogue, whose name was Jairus, came and fell down before him, 23 pleading with him to heal his little daughter.

“She is at the point of death,” he said in desperation. “Please come and place your hands on her and make her live.”

24 Jesus went with him, and the crowd thronged behind. 25 In the crowd was a woman who had been sick for twelve years with a hemorrhage. 26 She had suffered much from many doctors through the years and had become poor from paying them, and was no better but, in fact, was worse. 27 She had heard all about the wonderful miracles Jesus did, and that is why she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his clothes.

28 For she thought to herself, “If I can just touch his clothing, I will be healed.” 29 And sure enough, as soon as she had touched him, the bleeding stopped and she knew she was well!

30 Jesus realized at once that healing power had gone out from him, so he turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

31 His disciples said to him, “All this crowd pressing around you, and you ask who touched you?”

32 But he kept on looking around to see who it was who had done it. 33 Then the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and told him what she had done. 34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, healed of your disease.”

35 While he was still talking to her, messengers arrived from Jairus’s home with the news that it was too late—his daughter was dead and there was no point in Jesus’ coming now. 36 But Jesus ignored their comments and said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just trust me.”

37 Then Jesus halted the crowd and wouldn’t let anyone go on with him to Jairus’s home except Peter and James and John. 38 When they arrived, Jesus saw that all was in great confusion, with unrestrained weeping and wailing. 39 He went inside and spoke to the people.

“Why all this weeping and commotion?” he asked. “The child isn’t dead; she is only asleep!”

40 They laughed at him in bitter derision, but he told them all to leave, and taking the little girl’s father and mother and his three disciples, he went into the room where she was lying.

41-42 Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Get up, little girl!” (She was twelve years old.) And she jumped up and walked around! Her parents just couldn’t get over it. 43 Jesus instructed them very earnestly not to tell what had happened and told them to give her something to eat.

Footnotes

  1. Mark 5:20 to visit the Ten Towns, or “to visit Decapolis.”