Jesus Heals a Demon-Possessed Man^(A)

²⁶ They landed in the region of the Gerasenes,^[a] which is just across the lake from Galilee. ²⁷ When Jesus^[b] stepped out on the shore, a man from the city met him. This man was controlled by^[c] demons and had not worn clothes for a long time. He did not live in a house but in the tombs. ²⁸ When he saw Jesus, he screamed, fell down in front of him, and cried out in a loud voice, “What do you want from me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you not to torture me!” ²⁹ because Jesus^[d] was in the process of ordering the unclean spirit to come out of the man. On many occasions the unclean spirit^[e] had seized the man,^[f] and though he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, he would break the chains and be driven by the demon into deserted places.

³⁰ Jesus asked the man,^[g] “What’s your name?”

He answered, “Legion,”^[h] because many demons had gone into him. ³¹ Then the demons^[i] began begging Jesus^[j] not to order them to go into the bottomless pit.^[k]

³² Now a large herd of pigs was grazing there on the hillside. So the demons^[l] begged Jesus^[m] to let them go into those pigs, and he consented to that. ³³ Then the demons came out of the man and went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down a steep slope into the lake and drowned.

³⁴ Now when those who had been taking care of the pigs saw what had happened, they ran away and reported it in the city and in the countryside. ³⁵ So the people^[n] went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone out sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind, they were frightened. ³⁶ The people who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed. ³⁷ Then all the people from the region surrounding the Gerasenes^[o] asked Jesus^[p] to leave them, because they were terrified. So he got into a boat and started back.

³⁸ Now the man from whom the demons had gone out kept begging Jesus^[q] to let him go with him. But Jesus^[r] sent him away, saying, ³⁹ “Go home and tell what God has done for you.” So the man^[s] left and kept proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.