The Gerasene Demoniac

5 They came to the ^[a]other side of the sea, to the region of the Gerasenes.^{(A) 2} When Jesus got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him, ³ and the man lived in the ^[b]tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with chains. ⁴ For he had often been bound with shackles [for the feet] and with chains, and he tore apart the chains and broke the shackles into pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue and tame him. ⁵ Night and day he was constantly screaming and shrieking among the tombs and on the mountains, and cutting himself with [sharp] stones. ⁶ Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him [in homage]; ⁷ and screaming with a loud voice, he said, “^[c]What business do we have in common with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore you by God [swear to me], do not torment me!”^{(B) 8} For Jesus had been saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” ⁹ He was asking him, “What is your name?” And he replied, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” ¹⁰ And he began begging Him repeatedly not to send them out of the region. ¹¹ Now there was a large herd of pigs grazing there on the mountain. ¹² And the demons begged Him, saying, “Send us to the pigs so that we may go into them!” ¹³ Jesus gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out [of the man] and entered the pigs. The herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea; and they were drowned [one after the other] in the sea.

¹⁴ The herdsmen [tending the pigs] ran away and reported it in the city and in the country. And the people came to see what had happened. ¹⁵ They came to Jesus and saw the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the man who had [previously] had the “legion” [of demons]; and they were frightened. ¹⁶ Those who had seen it described [in detail] to the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man, and [told them all] about the pigs. ¹⁷ So the people began to beg with Jesus to leave their region. ¹⁸ As He was stepping into the boat, the [Gentile] man who had been demon-possessed was begging with Him [asking] that he might go with Him [as a disciple]. ¹⁹ Jesus did not let him [come], but [instead] He said to him, “Go home to your family and tell them all the great things that the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you.” ²⁰ So he [obeyed and] went away and began to publicly proclaim in Decapolis [the region of the ten Hellenistic cities] all the great things that Jesus had done for him; and all the people were astonished.