Jesus Heals Two Men with Demons^(A)

²⁸ When Jesus came to the territory of Gadara on the other side of the lake, he was met by two men who came out of the burial caves there. These men had demons in them and were so fierce that no one dared travel on that road. ²⁹ At once they screamed, “What do you want with us, you Son of God? Have you come to punish us before the right time?”

³⁰ Not far away there was a large herd of pigs feeding. ³¹ So the demons begged Jesus, “If you are going to drive us out, send us into that herd of pigs.”

³² “Go,” Jesus told them; so they left and went off into the pigs. The whole herd rushed down the side of the cliff into the lake and was drowned.

³³ The men who had been taking care of the pigs ran away and went into the town, where they told the whole story and what had happened to the men with the demons.

²³ Just then a man with an evil spirit came into the synagogue and screamed, ²⁴ “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Are you here to destroy us? I know who you are—you are God's holy messenger!”

²⁵ Jesus ordered the spirit, “Be quiet, and come out of the man!”

²⁶ The evil spirit shook the man hard, gave a loud scream, and came out of him. ²⁷ The people were all so amazed that they started saying to one another, “What is this? Is it some kind of new teaching? This man has authority to give orders to the evil spirits, and they obey him!”

²⁸ And so the news about Jesus spread quickly everywhere in the province of Galilee.

⁶ He was some distance away when he saw Jesus; so he ran, fell on his knees before him, ⁷ and screamed in a loud voice, “Jesus, Son of the Most High God! What do you want with me? For God's sake, I beg you, don't punish me!” (⁸ He said this because Jesus was saying, “Evil spirit, come out of this man!”)

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

The man answered, “My name is ‘Mob’—there are so many of us!” ¹⁰ And he kept begging Jesus not to send the evil spirits out of that region.

A Man with an Evil Spirit^(A)

³¹ Then Jesus went to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, where he taught the people on the Sabbath. ^32 (B)They were all amazed at the way he taught, because he spoke with authority. ³³ In the synagogue was a man who had the spirit of an evil demon in him; he screamed out in a loud voice, ³⁴ “Ah! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Are you here to destroy us? I know who you are: you are God's holy messenger!”

³⁵ Jesus ordered the spirit, “Be quiet and come out of the man!” The demon threw the man down in front of them and went out of him without doing him any harm.

³⁶ The people were all amazed and said to one another, “What kind of words are these? With authority and power this man gives orders to the evil spirits, and they come out!” ³⁷ And the report about Jesus spread everywhere in that region.