Jesus Cures a Demon-Possessed Man^(A)

5 They arrived in the territory of the Gerasenes on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. ² As Jesus stepped out of the boat, a man came out of the tombs and met him. The man was controlled by an evil spirit ³ and lived among the tombs. No one could restrain him any longer, not even with a chain. ⁴ He had often been chained hand and foot. However, he snapped the chains off his hands and broke the chains from his feet. No one could control him. ⁵ Night and day he was among the tombs and on the mountainsides screaming and cutting himself with stones.

⁶ The man saw Jesus at a distance. So he ran ⌞to Jesus⌟, bowed down in front of him, ⁷ and shouted, “Why are you bothering me now, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won’t torture me.” ⁸ He shouted this because Jesus said, “You evil spirit, come out of the man.”

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

He told Jesus, “My name is Legion [Six Thousand], because there are many of us.” ¹⁰ He begged Jesus not to send them out of the territory.

¹¹ A large herd of pigs was feeding on a mountainside nearby. ¹² The demons begged him, “Send us into the pigs! Let us enter them!”

¹³ Jesus let them do this. The evil spirits came out of the man and went into the pigs. The herd of about two thousand pigs rushed down the cliff into the sea and drowned.

¹⁴ Those who took care of the pigs ran away. In the city and countryside they reported everything that had happened. So the people came to see what had happened. ¹⁵ They came to Jesus and saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons. The man was sitting there dressed and in his right mind. The people were frightened. ¹⁶ Those who saw this told what had happened to the demon-possessed man and the pigs. ¹⁷ Then the people began to beg Jesus to leave their territory.

¹⁸ As Jesus stepped into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged him, “Let me stay with you.” ¹⁹ But Jesus would not allow it. Instead, he told the man, “Go home to your family, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been to you.”

²⁰ So the man left. He began to tell how much Jesus had done for him in the Ten Cities.^[a] Everyone was amazed.

Jesus Cures a Demon-Possessed Man^(A)

²⁶ They landed in the region of the Gerasenes across from Galilee. ²⁷ When Jesus stepped out on the shore, a certain man from the city met him. The man was possessed by demons and had not worn clothes for a long time. He would not stay in a house but lived in the tombs. ²⁸ When he saw Jesus, he shouted, fell in front of him, and said in a loud voice, “Why are you bothering me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you not to torture me!” ²⁹ Jesus ordered the evil spirit to come out of the man. (The evil spirit had controlled the man for a long time. People had kept him under guard. He was chained hand and foot. But he would break the chains. Then the demon would force him to go into the desert.)

³⁰ Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

He answered, “Legion [Six Thousand].” (Many demons had entered him.) ³¹ The demons begged Jesus not to order them to go into the bottomless pit.

³² A large herd of pigs was feeding on a mountainside. The demons begged Jesus to let them enter those pigs. So he let them do this. ³³ The demons came out of the man and went into the pigs. Then the herd rushed down the cliff into the lake and drowned.

³⁴ When those who had taken care of the pigs saw what had happened, they ran away. They reported everything in the city and countryside. ³⁵ The people went to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone out. Dressed and in his right mind, he was sitting at Jesus’ feet. The people were frightened. ³⁶ Those who had seen this told the people how Jesus had restored the demon-possessed man to health.

³⁷ Then all the people from the surrounding region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave because they were terrified.

Jesus got into a boat and started back. ³⁸ The man from whom the demons had gone out begged him, “Let me go with you.”

But Jesus sent the man away and told him, ³⁹ “Go home to your family, and tell them how much God has done for you.” So the man left. He went through the whole city and told people how much Jesus had done for him.