A Demon-Possessed Man and a Herd of Pigs

5 They went to the other side of the sea, into the region of the Gerasenes.^{[a] 2} As soon as Jesus stepped out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs to meet him. ³ The man lived in the tombs. Nobody could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. ⁴ For he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he pulled the chains apart and broke the shackles in pieces. Nobody had the strength to subdue him. ⁵ Night and day, in the tombs and in the mountains, he was constantly crying out and cutting himself with stones. ⁶ When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down in front of him. ⁷ He cried out with a loud voice, “What do I have to do with you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you to swear by God not to torment me.” ⁸ For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”

⁹ Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

“My name is Legion,” he replied, “because we are many.” ¹⁰ He begged Jesus repeatedly that he would not send them out of the region.

¹¹ There was a large herd of pigs there feeding on the hillside. ¹² The demons begged him, “Send us to the pigs so we may enter them.”

¹³ Jesus gave them permission. The unclean spirits went out and entered the pigs. Then the herd of about two thousand pigs rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned. ¹⁴ Those who were feeding the pigs ran and reported this in the city and the countryside.

People came to see what had happened. ¹⁵ When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons sitting there clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. ¹⁶ Those who had seen it described for these people what had happened to the demon-possessed man, and they told them about the pigs. ¹⁷ They began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.

¹⁸ As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to stay with Jesus. ¹⁹ But Jesus would not let him. Instead, he told him, “Go home to your people, and tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how he had mercy on you.”

²⁰ The man left and began to proclaim in the Decapolis everything Jesus had done for him. And everyone was amazed.

The Daughter of Jairus

²¹ When Jesus had again crossed over in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him near the sea. ²² Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet ²³ and repeatedly pleaded with him, “My little daughter is near death. Please come and place your hands on her so that she may be healed and live.”

²⁴ Jesus went with him, and a large crowd was following him, pressing tightly against him. ²⁵ A certain woman who was there had a discharge of blood for twelve years. ²⁶ She had suffered much under the care of many physicians and had spent all that she had. Yet instead of getting better, she grew worse. ²⁷ When she heard what was being said about Jesus, she went up behind him in the crowd and touched his robe. ²⁸ She said, “If I just touch his robe, I will be healed.” ²⁹ Immediately her flow of blood stopped, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.

³⁰ At that moment, Jesus knew that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my robe?”

³¹ His disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing tightly against you and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’”

³² Nevertheless he kept looking around to see who had done this. ³³ The woman was trembling with fear since she knew what had happened to her. She came forward, fell down in front of him, and told him the whole truth.

³⁴ He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your suffering.”

³⁵ While he was still speaking, people from the synagogue ruler’s house arrived, saying, “Your daughter is dead. Why bother the Teacher anymore?”

³⁶ But when Jesus heard this report, he told the synagogue ruler, “Don’t be afraid. Only believe.” ³⁷ He did not allow anyone to follow him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James. ³⁸ They went into the house of the synagogue ruler, and Jesus saw a commotion with people weeping and wailing loudly. ³⁹ When he entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.”

⁴⁰ They laughed at him. But after he put everyone out, he took the father of the child, her mother, and those who were with him and went in where the child was. ⁴¹ Grasping the hand of the child, he said to her, “Talitha, koum!” (When translated, that means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise!”) ⁴² Immediately the little girl stood up and began to walk around. (She was twelve years old.) They were completely and utterly amazed. ⁴³ Then he gave them strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and he told them to give her something to eat.