M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

5 They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarene people.

² There were graves in that place. As soon as Jesus came out of the boat, a man came from among the graves to meet him. The man had a bad spirit in him.

³ The man lived among the graves. No person could tie him, not even with chains.

⁴ Many times people had tied him with strong ropes and chains. But he broke the chains and tore the ropes into many pieces. No person was strong enough to hold the man.

⁵ All the time he stayed in the hills where the graves were. He screamed day and night and cut himself with sharp stones.

⁶ Jesus was still far from him, but when he saw Jesus he ran to him. He kneeled down in front of Jesus and worshipped him.

⁷ He called out loud, `Jesus, Son of the High God, what are you going to do to me? I beg you not to hurt me.'

⁸ He said this because Jesus had said to him, `You bad spirit, come out of the man.'

⁹ Jesus asked, `What is your name?' He answered, `My name is An Army, for we are many.'

¹⁰ He begged Jesus saying, `Do not send us out of the country.'

¹¹ Many pigs were feeding on the hill there.

¹² The bad spirits begged Jesus saying, `Send us to the pigs so that we can go into them.'

¹³ Jesus let them go right away. The bad spirits came out of the man and went into the pigs. The pigs ran fast down the steep hill into the sea. They died in the water. The number of pigs was about two thousand.

¹⁴ Then the men who cared for the pigs ran away. They told the people in the city and all around the country about it. The people went out to see what had happened.

¹⁵ They came to Jesus. They saw the man who had the many bad spirits in him. He was sitting with clothes on and was not crazy any more. The people were afraid.

¹⁶ Those who had seen it told them what had happened to the man who used to have many bad spirits. And they told about the pigs.

¹⁷ Then the people began to beg Jesus to go away out of their country.

¹⁸ So Jesus got into the boat again. The man who used to have the bad spirits in him begged to go with him.

¹⁹ But Jesus did not let him. He said, `Go home. Tell your friends what the Lord has done for you. Tell them that he has helped you.'

²⁰ So the man went away and told people in the Ten Towns what Jesus had done for him. All the people were surprised.

²¹ Jesus crossed over the sea again to the other side. Many people came to him while he was near the water.

²² One of the rulers of the meeting house came to him. His name was Jairus. When he saw Jesus, he kneeled down before him.

²³ He said, `My little daughter is dying. I beg you, come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.'

²⁴ So Jesus went with Jairus. Many people went with Jesus and pushed against him.

²⁵ A woman among them had a sickness for twelve years. She was bleeding all the time.

²⁶ Many doctors tried to heal her. She spent all the money she had to pay them. She was not better, but was getting worse.

²⁷ When she heard of Jesus, she came among the people behind him. Then she reached out and touched his clothes.

²⁸ She said to herself, `If only I touch his clothes, I will be well.'

²⁹ The bleeding stopped right away. She could feel that she was healed of her trouble.

³⁰ Jesus knew right away that power to heal went out from him. He turned around among the people and said, `Who touched my clothes?'

³¹ But his disciples said to him, `You see all these people pushing around you. Why do you ask, "Who touched me?" '

³² He looked around to see who had done it.

³³ The woman was afraid and trembled. She knew what had happened to her. She kneeled down in front of Jesus and told him the truth about herself.

³⁴ He said to her, `Daughter, you were healed because you believed. Go and do not be troubled. You are healed.'

³⁵ While Jesus was still talking, some people came from the ruler's house. They said, `Your daughter has died. Why trouble the Teacher any more?'

³⁶ Jesus heard it. He said to the ruler, `Do not fear. Only believe.'

³⁷ Jesus did not let anyone go with him only Peter, James, and his brother John.

³⁸ They came to the ruler's house. Jesus saw that there was trouble. People were crying and making much noise because the ruler's daughter had died.

³⁹ When he came into the house, he said to them, `Why do you make so much noise and cry? The girl is not dead, but is sleeping.'

⁴⁰ They laughed at him. So he sent them all outside. Then he took the girl's father and mother and the three disciples into the room where the girl was lying.

⁴¹ He took her hand and said, `Talitha cumi!' That means, `Little girl, I tell you, get up!'

⁴² The girl got up right away and walked around. She was twelve years old. The people were very much surprised.

⁴³ Jesus said, `Do not tell anyone about this. Give the girl something to eat.'

5 We are made good people and put right with God when we believe in Jesus Christ. So now we have peace with God because of what our Lord Jesus Christ did.

² Because we believe, Christ has brought us to the place where God can do us good. We are in that place now. We are very happy because we have the hope that we shall see God's greatness.

³ And not only is that true, but we are very happy in our troubles, because we know that trouble makes us stronger.

⁴ When we are strong to take trouble, we prove that we believe. When we prove that we believe, we have hope.

⁵ We will not be disappointed by this hope. God has given us the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit has put God's love in our hearts.

⁶ We could not help ourselves. So at the right time, Christ died to save us bad people.

⁷ Almost no one would die to save even a good man. But perhaps someone would die to save a very good man.

⁸ God shows his love for us in this way: Christ died to save us while we were bad people.

⁹ The blood of Christ has now put us right with God. So even more, he will save us from God's strong anger.

¹⁰ When we were enemies, the death of his Son brought us back to God. Now that we are made right with God, it is the life of Jesus that will save us.

¹¹ Not only is that true, but it is through our Lord Jesus Christ that we can enjoy God. This is for all who have been brought back to God by him.

¹² One man [Adam] did a wrong thing. And the wrong thing he did made him die. So all men die because all have done wrong things.

¹³ People in the world were not right with God before he gave the law. But wrong things are not punished when there is no law.

¹⁴ Yet death ruled over people from Adam's time to Moses' time. It even ruled over the people who were not as wrong as Adam. Adam was like a person who would come later.

¹⁵ But the free gift is not like the wrong thing. Many people died because one man did a wrong thing. This is sure. God was very kind and he gave a free gift. This gift was given to many people because one man, Jesus Christ, did a very kind thing.

¹⁶ The free gift is not like the wrong thing one man did. Because of that one man people were judged. And they were punished. Because many people did wrong things, God gave his free gift and many people were made right with him.

¹⁷ One man did a wrong thing. And so death ruled over people because of that one man. God has been kind to people and given them his free gift. That gift is to make people right with God. People who take that gift will live and rule because of one man, Jesus Christ.

¹⁸ One man did a wrong thing. And so all people were punished through him. But Christ did the right thing. And so all people can have the free gift of life through being put right with God.

¹⁹ One man did not obey. And so many people were bad people. One man obeyed. And so many people will be made right with God.

²⁰ When the law came, it showed how wrong people really were. But when people were really bad, God was even more kind.

²¹ The wrong things people did ruled over them, and they died. Now God has been very kind. He has made people right with him. So now God's blessing will rule over them, and they will live for ever. Jesus Christ our Lord has done this for them.