Mark 5–6

Jesus Heals a Man with a Demon

5^uThey came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes.^{1 2}And when Jesus² had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. ^3vHe lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, ⁴for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. ⁵Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. ⁶And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and ^wfell down before him. ⁷And ^xcrying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, ^ySon of ^zthe Most High God? ^aI adjure you by God, do not torment me.” ⁸For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” ⁹And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is ^bLegion, for we are many.” ¹⁰And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. ¹¹Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, ¹²and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” ¹³So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.

¹⁴The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. ¹⁵And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed³ man, the one who had had ^cthe legion, sitting there, ^dclothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. ¹⁶And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. ¹⁷And ^ethey began to beg Jesus⁴ to depart from their region. ¹⁸As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. ¹⁹And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and ^ftell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” ²⁰And he went away and began to proclaim in ^gthe Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

Jesus Heals a Woman and Jairus’s Daughter

²¹And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. ^22hThen came one of ⁱthe rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet ²³and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and ^jlay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” ²⁴And he went with him.

And a great crowd followed him and ^kthronged about him. ²⁵And there was a woman ^lwho had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, ²⁶and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. ²⁷She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. ²⁸For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” ^29mAnd immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her ⁿdisease. ³⁰And Jesus, perceiving in himself that ^opower had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” ³¹And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’ ” ³²And he looked around to see who had done it. ³³But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. ³⁴And he said to her, “Daughter, ^pyour faith has made you well; ^pgo in peace, and be healed of your ⁿdisease.”

³⁵While he was still speaking, there came from ^qthe ruler’s house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why ^rtrouble ^sthe Teacher any further?” ³⁶But overhearing⁵ what they said, Jesus said to ^qthe ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” ³⁷And he allowed no one to follow him except ^tPeter and James and ^uJohn the brother of James. ³⁸They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus⁶ saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. ³⁹And when he had entered, he said to them, ^v“Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but ^wsleeping.” ⁴⁰And they laughed at him. But he ^xput them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. ^41yTaking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, ^zarise.” ⁴²And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. ⁴³And ^ahe strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

6^bHe went away from there and came to ^chis hometown, and his disciples followed him. ²And ^don the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and ^emany who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? ^3fIs not this ^gthe carpenter,¹ the son of Mary and ^hbrother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And ⁱthey took offense at him. ⁴And Jesus said to them, ^j“A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” ⁵And ^khe could do no mighty work there, except that ^lhe laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. ⁶And ^mhe marveled because of their unbelief.

ⁿAnd he went about among the villages teaching.

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles

^7oAnd he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. ⁸He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— ⁹but to ^pwear sandals and not put on two tunics.^{2 10}And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. ¹¹And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, ^qshake off the dust that is on your feet ^ras a testimony against them.” ^12sSo they went out and ^tproclaimed ^uthat people should repent. ^13tAnd they cast out many demons and ^vanointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.

The Death of John the Baptist

^14wKing Herod heard of it, for Jesus’³ name had become known. Some⁴ said, ^x“John the Baptist⁵ has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” ^15xBut others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is ^ya prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” ¹⁶But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” ^17zFor it was Herod who had sent and seized John and ^abound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her. ^18zFor John had been saying to Herod, ^b“It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” ¹⁹And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, ²⁰for Herod ^cfeared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he ^dheard him gladly.

²¹But an opportunity came when Herod ^eon his birthday ^fgave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. ²²For when Herodias’s daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” ²³And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, ^gup to half of my kingdom.” ²⁴And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” ²⁵And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” ²⁶And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. ²⁷And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s⁶ head. He went and beheaded him in the prison ²⁸and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. ²⁹When his ^hdisciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

^30ijThe apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. ³¹And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and ^kthey had no leisure even to eat. ^32lAnd they went away in ^mthe boat to a desolate place by themselves. ³³Now many saw them going and ⁿrecognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. ³⁴When he went ashore he ^osaw a great crowd, and ^ohe had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. ³⁵And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. ^36pSend them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” ³⁷But he answered them, ^q“You give them something to eat.” And ^rthey said to him, ^s“Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii⁷ worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” ³⁸And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, ^t“Five, and two fish.” ³⁹Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. ⁴¹And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he ^ulooked up to heaven and ^vsaid a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. ⁴²And they all ate and were…