Jesus Heals a Man Possessed by Demons

5 They came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gerasenes.^{[a] 2} And when he had stepped out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met him.^{(A) 3} He lived among the tombs, and no one could restrain him any more, even with a chain, ⁴ for he had often been restrained with shackles and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he broke in pieces, and no one had the strength to subdue him. ⁵ Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always howling and bruising himself with stones. ⁶ When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down before him,^{(B) 7} and he shouted at the top of his voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.”^{(C) 8} For he had said to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” ⁹ Then Jesus^[b] asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” ¹⁰ He begged him earnestly not to send them out of the region. ¹¹ Now there on the hillside a great herd of swine was feeding, ¹² and the unclean spirits^[c] begged him, “Send us into the swine; let us enter them.” ¹³ So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine, and the herd, numbering about two thousand, stampeded down the steep bank into the sea and were drowned in the sea.

¹⁴ The swineherds ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came to see what it was that had happened. ¹⁵ They came to Jesus and saw the man possessed by demons sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the legion, and they became frightened.^{(D) 16} Those who had seen what had happened to the man possessed by demons and to the swine reported it. ¹⁷ Then they began to beg Jesus^[d] to leave their neighborhood.^{(E) 18} As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by demons begged him that he might be with him. ¹⁹ But Jesus^[e] refused and said to him, “Go home to your own people, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and what mercy he has shown you.” ²⁰ And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone was amazed.^(F)

A Girl Restored to Life and a Woman Healed

²¹ When Jesus had crossed again in the boat^[f] to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him, and he was by the sea.^{(G) 22} Then one of the leaders of the synagogue, named Jairus, came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet^{(H) 23} and pleaded with him repeatedly, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.”^{(I) 24} So he went with him.

And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. ²⁵ Now there was a woman who had been suffering from a flow of blood for twelve years.^{(J) 26} She had endured much under many physicians and had spent all that she had, and she was no better but rather grew worse. ²⁷ She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, ²⁸ for she said, “If I but touch his cloak, I will be made well.” ²⁹ Immediately her flow of blood stopped, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. ³⁰ Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my cloak?” ³¹ And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?’ ” ³² He looked all around to see who had done it. ³³ But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. ³⁴ He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

³⁵ While he was still speaking, some people came from the synagogue leader’s house to say, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?” ³⁶ But overhearing^[g] what they said, Jesus said to the synagogue leader, “Do not be afraid; only believe.” ³⁷ He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. ³⁸ When they came to the synagogue leader’s house, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. ³⁹ When he had entered, he said to them, “Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.” ⁴⁰ And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. ⁴¹ Taking her by the hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means, “Little girl, get up!” ⁴² And immediately the girl stood up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. ⁴³ He strictly ordered them that no one should know this and told them to give her something to eat.

Some Women Accompany Jesus

8 Soon afterward he went on through one town and village after another, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him,^{(A) 2} as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,^{(B) 3} and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who ministered to them^[a] out of their own resources.

The Parable of the Sower

⁴ When a large crowd was gathering, as people were coming to him from town after town, he said in a parable: ⁵ “A sower went out to sow his seed, and as he sowed some fell on a path and was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. ⁶ Some fell on rock, and as it grew up it withered for lack of moisture. ⁷ Some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it. ⁸ Some fell into good soil, and when it grew it produced a hundredfold.” As he said this, he called out, “If you have ears to hear, then hear!”^(C)

The Purpose of the Parables

⁹ Then his disciples asked him what this parable meant.^{(D) 10} He said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets^[b] of the kingdom of God, but to others I speak^[c] in parables, so that

The Parable of the Sower Explained

¹¹ “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.^{(E) 12} The ones on the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. ¹³ The ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe only for a while and in a time of testing fall away. ¹⁴ As for what fell among the thorns, these are the ones who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. ¹⁵ But as for that in the good soil, these are the ones who, when they hear the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart and bear fruit with endurance.

A Lamp under a Jar

¹⁶ “No one after lighting a lamp hides it under a jar or puts it under a bed; rather, one puts it on a lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light.^{(F) 17} For nothing is hidden that will not be disclosed, nor is anything secret that will not become known and come to light.^{(G) 18} So pay attention to how you listen, for to those who have, more will be given, and from those who do not have, even what they seem to have will be taken away.”^(H)

The True Kindred of Jesus

¹⁹ Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. ²⁰ And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.” ²¹ But he said to them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”^(I)

Jesus Calms a Storm

²² One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they put out,^{(J) 23} and while they were sailing he fell asleep. A windstorm swept down on the lake, and the boat was filling with water, and they were in danger. ²⁴ They went to him and woke him up, shouting, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And waking up, he rebuked the wind and the raging waves; they ceased, and there was a calm.^{(K) 25} Then he said to them, “Where is your faith?” They were terrified and amazed and said to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the water and they obey him?”

Jesus Heals the Gerasene Demoniac

²⁶ Then they arrived at the region of the Gerasenes,^[d] which is opposite Galilee. ²⁷ As he stepped out on shore, a man from the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had not worn^[e] any clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. ²⁸ When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him, shouting, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me,”^{(L) 29} for Jesus^[f] had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.) ³⁰ Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. ³¹ They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.^(M)

³² Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding, and the demons^[g] begged Jesus^[h] to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. ³³ Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd stampeded down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.^(N)

³⁴ When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. ³⁵ Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they became frightened.^{(O) 36} Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed.^{(P) 37} Then the whole throng of people of the surrounding region of the Gerasenes^[i] asked Jesus^[j] to leave them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned.^{(Q) 38} The man from whom the demons had gone out begged that he might be with him, but Jesus^[k] sent him away, saying, ³⁹ “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.

A Girl Restored to Life and a Woman Healed

⁴⁰ Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. ⁴¹ Just then there came a man named Jairus, a leader of the synagogue. He fell at Jesus’s feet and began pleading with him to come to his house, ⁴² for he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying.

As he went, the crowds pressed in on him. ⁴³ Now there was a woman who had been suffering from a flow of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all she had on physicians,^[l] no one could cure her. ⁴⁴ She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, and immediately her flow of blood stopped. ⁴⁵ Then Jesus asked, “Who touched me?” When they all denied it, Peter^[m] said, “Master, the crowds are hemming you in and pressing against you.”^{(R) 46} But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I noticed that power had gone out from me.”^{(S) 47} When the woman realized that she could not remain hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him and how she had been immediately healed. ⁴⁸ He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”^(T)

⁴⁹ While he was still speaking, someone came from the synagogue leader’s house to say, “Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the teacher any longer.”^{(U) 50} When Jesus heard this, he replied, “Do not be afraid. Only believe, and she will be saved.” ⁵¹ When he came to the house, he did not allow anyone to enter with him, except Peter, John, and James and the child’s father and mother. ⁵² Everyone was weeping and grieving for her, but he said, “Do not cry, for she is not dead but sleeping.”^{(V) 53} And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. ⁵⁴ But taking her by the hand, he called out, “Child, get up!”^{(W) 55} Her spirit returned, and she stood up at once, and he directed them to give her something to eat. ⁵⁶ Her parents were astounded, but he ordered them to tell no one what had happened.^(X)