Mark 5

¹They came to the other side of the sea, into the region of the Gerasenes. ²As soon as he stepped out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit met him, coming from the burial caves. ³This man made his home among the tombs, and no one was able to bind him anymore—not even with a chain. ⁴Because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, he had torn the chains apart and smashed the shackles to pieces; no one had the strength to subdue him. ⁵Night and day, among the tombs and on the mountains, he was constantly screaming and gasping, gashing himself with sharp stones.

⁶When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees before him. ⁷Shouting with a piercing voice, he said, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name, I adjure you—do not torture me!” ⁸For Jesus had been saying to it, “Come out of the man, you impure spirit!” ⁹Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” And he replied, “My name is Legion, because we are many.” ¹⁰He kept begging Jesus not to send them out of that region.

¹¹Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there near the mountain. ¹²The spirits pleaded with him, saying, “Send us into the pigs so we may enter them.” ¹³He gave them permission. The impure spirits came out and entered the pigs, and the herd—about two thousand of them—stampeded down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the water. ¹⁴The men tending them fled and reported it in the city and throughout the countryside, and the people came to see what had happened. ¹⁵They came to Jesus and saw the man who had been driven by demons sitting there, clothed and in his right mind—the very man who had been possessed by the ‘Legion’—and they were struck with fear. ¹⁶Those who had witnessed it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and gave an account of the pigs. ¹⁷Then they began to plead with Jesus to leave their district.

¹⁸As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed kept begging to remain with him. ¹⁹Jesus did not permit it, but said to him, “Go home to your own people and report to them everything the Lord has done for you, and how he had mercy on you.” ²⁰So the man went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone was amazed.

²¹When Jesus had crossed over again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the sea. ²²One of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came forward. Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet ²³and pleaded with him urgently, saying, “My little daughter is at death’s door. Please, come and lay your hands on her so that she may be restored and live.” ²⁴So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed in on him from all sides. ²⁵Now there was a woman who had suffered from a flow of blood for twelve years. ²⁶She had endured much under the care of many doctors and had spent everything she owned, yet she was not helped at all; instead, she grew worse. ²⁷Having heard the reports about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak. ²⁸For she kept saying, “If I can touch even his clothes, I will be made whole.” ²⁹Immediately the source of her bleeding dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed from her agonizing affliction.

³⁰At once, Jesus, recognizing in himself that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” ³¹His disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing in on you, and yet you ask, ‘Who touched me?’” ³²But he kept looking around to see the woman who had done this. ³³Then the woman, fearing and trembling because she knew what had happened to her, came and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. ³⁴He said to her, “Daughter, your trust has restored you. Go in peace, and be healthy and free from your affliction.”

³⁵While he was still speaking, people came from the synagogue leader’s house, saying, “Your daughter has died. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” ³⁶But Jesus, overhearing the word being spoken, said to the synagogue leader, “Do not be afraid; only keep trusting.” ³⁷He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James. ³⁸They came to the house of the synagogue leader, and Jesus saw a commotion—people weeping and wailing loudly. ³⁹He went in and said to them, “Why are you making such a commotion and weeping? The child has not died but is sleeping.” ⁴⁰They began to laugh at him. But he put them all outside, took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. ⁴¹Taking the hand of the child, he said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). ⁴²Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this, they were instantly overwhelmed with utter amazement. ⁴³He gave them strict orders that no one should know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.