Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

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.