Jesus Heals Two Demon-Possessed Men^(A)

²⁸ When Jesus^[a] arrived on the other side in the region of the Gerasenes,^[b] two demon-possessed men met him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so violent that no one could travel on that road. ²⁹ Suddenly, they screamed, “What do you want with us, Son of God? Did you come here to torture us before the proper time?”

³⁰ Now a large herd of pigs was grazing some distance away from them. ³¹ So the demons began to plead with Jesus,^[c] saying, “If you drive us out, send us into that herd of pigs.”

³² He told them, “Go,” and they came out and went into the pigs. Suddenly, the whole herd rushed down a steep slope into the sea and drowned in the water.

³³ Now when those who had been taking care of the pigs ran away, they came into the city and reported everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men. ³⁴ Then the whole city went out to meet Jesus, and as soon as they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.

Jesus Heals a Demon-Possessed Man^(A)

5 They arrived at the other side of the sea in the territory of the Gerasenes.^{[a] 2} Just as Jesus^[b] stepped out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs and met him. ³ He lived among the tombs, and no one could restrain him any longer, not even with a chain. ⁴ He had often been restrained with shackles and chains, but had snapped the chains apart and broken the shackles in pieces. No one could tame him. ⁵ He kept screaming night and day among the tombs and on the mountainsides, and kept cutting himself with stones.

⁶ When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell down in front of him, ⁷ screaming in a loud voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you in the name of^[c] God never to torment me!”

⁸ Jesus^[d] had been saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” ⁹ Then Jesus^[e] asked him, “What’s your name?”

He told him, “My name is Legion,^[f] because there are many of us.” ¹⁰ He kept pleading with Jesus^[g] not to send them out of that region.

¹¹ Now a large herd of pigs was grazing on a hillside nearby. ¹² So the demons^[h] begged him, “Send us among the pigs, so that we can go into them!” ¹³ So he let them do this. The unclean spirits came out of the man^[i] and went into the pigs, and the herd of about 2,000 rushed down a steep slope into the sea and drowned there.^[j]

¹⁴ Now when those who had been taking care of the pigs ran away, they reported what had happened^[k] in the city and countryside. So the people^[l] went to see what had happened. ¹⁵ When they came to Jesus and saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there dressed and in his right mind, they were frightened. ¹⁶ The people who had seen it told them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and the pigs. ¹⁷ So they began to beg Jesus^[m] to leave their territory.

¹⁸ As Jesus^[n] was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed kept begging him to let him go with him. ¹⁹ But Jesus^[o] wouldn’t let him. Instead, he told him, “Go home to your family, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been to you.” ²⁰ So the man^[p] left and began proclaiming in the Decapolis^[q] how much Jesus had done for him. And everyone was utterly amazed.