Luke 8:26-37

New Century Version

A Man with Demons Inside Him

²⁶ Jesus and his followers sailed across the lake from Galilee to the area of the Gerasene^[a] people. ²⁷ When Jesus got out on the land, a man from the town who had demons inside him came to Jesus. For a long time he had worn no clothes and had lived in the burial caves, not in a house. ²⁸ When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him. He said with a loud voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!” ²⁹ He said this because Jesus was commanding the evil spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had taken hold of him. Though he had been kept under guard and chained hand and foot, he had broken his chains and had been forced by the demon out into a lonely place.

³⁰ Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

He answered, “Legion,”^[b] because many demons were in him. ³¹ The demons begged Jesus not to send them into eternal darkness.^{[c] 32} A large herd of pigs was feeding on a hill, and the demons begged Jesus to allow them to go into the pigs. So Jesus allowed them to do this. ³³ When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd ran down the hill into the lake and was drowned.

³⁴ When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they ran away and told about this in the town and the countryside. ³⁵ And people went to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man sitting at Jesus’ feet, clothed and in his right mind, because the demons were gone. But the people were frightened. ³⁶ The people who saw this happen told the others how Jesus had made the man well. ³⁷ All the people of the Gerasene country asked Jesus to leave, because they were all very afraid. So Jesus got into the boat and went back to Galilee.