Luke 8:26-36

New Catholic Bible

²⁶ Jesus Casts Out a Legion of Demons.^[a] Then they sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. ²⁷ As he stepped ashore, he was approached by a man from the town who was possessed by demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes. Moreover, he did not live in a house but among the tombs.

²⁸ When the man caught sight of Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore you, do not torment me!” ²⁹ For he had ordered the unclean spirit to come out of the man. Many times in the past it had seized him, and on such occasions they used to restrain him with chains and shackles, but he would manage to break loose and be driven by the demon into the wilds.

³⁰ Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” “Legion,” he replied, for many demons had entered him. ³¹ And they begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.

³² Now on the mountainside a large herd of pigs was feeding, and they pleaded with him to let them go into the pigs. He allowed this. ³³ The demons then came out of the man and entered the pigs. Thereupon the herd charged down the steep bank into the lake and drowned.

³⁴ When those tending the herd saw what had occurred, they ran off and reported the incident in the town and throughout the countryside. ³⁵ As a result, people came out to see what had happened. When they came near Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out sitting at Jesus’ feet, fully clothed and in his right mind, and they were frightened.

³⁶ Those who had been eye-witnesses to the incident told how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed.