Jesus Heals a Man Possessed by Demons

5 They came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gerasenes.^{[a] 2} And when he had stepped out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met him.^{(A) 3} He lived among the tombs, and no one could restrain him any more, even with a chain, ⁴ for he had often been restrained with shackles and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he broke in pieces, and no one had the strength to subdue him. ⁵ Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always howling and bruising himself with stones. ⁶ When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down before him,^{(B) 7} and he shouted at the top of his voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.”^{(C) 8} For he had said to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” ⁹ Then Jesus^[b] asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” ¹⁰ He begged him earnestly not to send them out of the region. ¹¹ Now there on the hillside a great herd of swine was feeding, ¹² and the unclean spirits^[c] begged him, “Send us into the swine; let us enter them.” ¹³ So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine, and the herd, numbering about two thousand, stampeded down the steep bank into the sea and were drowned in the sea.

¹⁴ The swineherds ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came to see what it was that had happened. ¹⁵ They came to Jesus and saw the man possessed by demons sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the legion, and they became frightened.^{(D) 16} Those who had seen what had happened to the man possessed by demons and to the swine reported it. ¹⁷ Then they began to beg Jesus^[d] to leave their neighborhood.^{(E) 18} As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by demons begged him that he might be with him. ¹⁹ But Jesus^[e] refused and said to him, “Go home to your own people, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and what mercy he has shown you.” ²⁰ And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone was amazed.^(F)

Jesus Heals the Gerasene Demoniac

²⁶ Then they arrived at the region of the Gerasenes,^[a] which is opposite Galilee. ²⁷ As he stepped out on shore, a man from the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had not worn^[b] any clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. ²⁸ When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him, shouting, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me,”^{(A) 29} for Jesus^[c] had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.) ³⁰ Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. ³¹ They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.^(B)

³² Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding, and the demons^[d] begged Jesus^[e] to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. ³³ Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd stampeded down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.^(C)

³⁴ When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. ³⁵ Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they became frightened.^{(D) 36} Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed.^{(E) 37} Then the whole throng of people of the surrounding region of the Gerasenes^[f] asked Jesus^[g] to leave them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned.^{(F) 38} The man from whom the demons had gone out begged that he might be with him, but Jesus^[h] sent him away, saying, ³⁹ “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.