Old/New Testament
The healing of the demoniac
26 They sailed to the land of the Gerasenes, which is on the other side from Galilee. 27 As he got out on land, a demon-possessed man from the town met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he didn’t live in a house but among the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus he screamed and fell down in front of him.
“You and me, Jesus—you and me!” he yelled at the top of his voice. “What is it with you and me, you son of the Most High God? Don’t torture me—please, please don’t torment me!” 29 Jesus was commanding the unclean spirit to come out of the man. Many times over it had seized him, and he was kept under guard with chains and manacles; but he used to break the shackles, and the demon would drive him into the desert.
30 “What’s your name?” Jesus asked him.
“Regiment!” replied the man—for many demons had entered him. 31 And they begged him not to order them to be sent into the pit.
32 A sizable herd of pigs was feeding on the hillside, and the demons begged him to allow them to go into them. He gave them permission. 33 The demons went out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep slope into the lake and was drowned.
34 The herdsmen saw what had happened. They took to their heels and spread the news in town and country, 35 and people came out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone out sitting there at Jesus’ feet, clothed and in his right mind. They were afraid. 36 People who had seen how the demoniac had been healed explained it to them. 37 The whole crowd, from the surrounding country of the Gerasenes, asked him to go away from them, because great terror had seized them. So he got into the boat and returned.
38 The man who had been demon-possessed begged Jesus to let him stay with him. But he sent him away. 39 “Go back to your home,” he said, “and tell them what God has done for you.” And he went off round every town, declaring what Jesus had done for him.
Jairus’s daughter and the woman with chronic bleeding
40 Jesus returned. A large crowd was waiting for him, and welcomed him back. 41 A man named Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, came and fell down in front of his feet. He pleaded with him to come to his house, 42 because he had an only daughter, twelve years old, who was dying. So they set off, and the crowd pressed close in around him.
43 There was a woman who had had an internal hemorrhage for twelve years. She had spent all she had on doctors, but had not been able to find a cure from anyone. 44 She came up behind Jesus and touched the hem of his robe. Immediately her flow of blood dried up.
45 “Who touched me?” asked Jesus.
Everybody denied it. “Master,” said Peter, “the crowds are crushing you and pressing you!”
46 “Somebody touched me,” said Jesus. “Power went out from me, and I knew it.”
47 When the woman saw that she couldn’t remain hidden, she came up, trembling, and fell down in front of him. She told him, in front of everyone, why she had touched him, and how she had been healed instantly.
48 “Daughter,” said Jesus, “your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”
49 While he was still speaking, someone arrived from the synagogue-ruler’s house. “Your daughter’s dead,” he said. “Don’t bother the teacher any longer.”
50 “Don’t be afraid,” said Jesus when he heard it. “Just believe, and she will be rescued.”
51 When they got to the house, he didn’t let anyone come in with them except Peter, John and James, and the child’s father and mother. 52 Everyone was weeping and wailing for her.
“Don’t cry,” said Jesus. “She isn’t dead; she’s asleep.” 53 They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead.
54 But he took her by the hand. “Get up, child,” he called. 55 Her spirit returned, and she got up at once. He told them to give her something to eat. 56 Her parents were astounded, but he told them to tell nobody what had happened.
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.