Luke 8:26–10:16

Jesus Heals a Man with Demons

²⁶Jesus and his disciples sailed on over to the territory of Gerasa,^g which is across the lake from Galilee. ²⁷As Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a man from the town who had demons in him. For a long time this man had gone without clothes and would not stay at home, but spent his time in the burial caves. ²⁸When he saw Jesus, he gave a loud cry, threw himself down at his feet, and shouted, “Jesus, Son of the Most High God! What do you want with me? I beg you, don’t punish me!” ²⁹He said this because Jesus had ordered the evil spirit to go out of him. Many times it had seized him, and even though he was kept a prisoner, his hands and feet fastened with chains, he would break the chains and be driven by the demon out into the desert.

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

“My name is ‘Mob’, “ he answered—because many demons had gone into him. ³¹The demons begged Jesus not to send them into the abyss.^h

³²There was a large herd of pigs near by, feeding on a hillside. So the demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs, and he let them. ³³They went out of the man and into the pigs. The whole herd rushed down the side of the cliff into the lake and was drowned.

³⁴The men who had been taking care of the pigs saw what happened, so they ran off and spread the news in the town and among the farms. ³⁵People went out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they were all afraid. ³⁶Those who had seen it told the people how the man had been cured. ³⁷Then all the people from that territory asked Jesus to go away, because they were terribly afraid. So Jesus got into the boat and left. ³⁸The man from whom the demons had gone out begged Jesus, “Let me go with you.”

But Jesus sent him away, saying, ³⁹“Go back home and tell what God has done for you.”

The man went through the town, telling what Jesus had done for him.

Jairus’ Daughter and the Woman Who Touched Jesus’ Cloak

⁴⁰When Jesus returned to the other side of the lake, the people welcomed him, because they had all been waiting for him. ⁴¹Then a man named Jairus arrived; he was an official in the local synagogue. He threw himself down at Jesus’ feet and begged him to go to his home, ⁴²because his only daughter, who was twelve years old, was dying.

As Jesus went along, the people were crowding him from every side. ⁴³Among them was a woman who had suffered from severe bleeding for twelve years; she had spent all she had on doctors,ⁱ but no one had been able to cure her. ⁴⁴She came up in the crowd behind Jesus and touched the edge of his cloak, and her bleeding stopped at once. ⁴⁵Jesus asked, “Who touched me?”

Everyone denied it, and Peter said, “Master, the people are all round you and crowding in on you.”

⁴⁶But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I knew it when power went out of me.” ⁴⁷The woman saw that she had been found out, so she came trembling and threw herself at Jesus’ feet. There in front of everybody, she told him why she had touched him and how she had been healed at once. ⁴⁸Jesus said to her, “My daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”

⁴⁹While Jesus was saying this, a messenger came from the official’s house. “Your daughter has died,” he told Jairus; “don’t bother the Teacher any longer.”

⁵⁰But Jesus heard it and said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; only believe, and she will be well.”

⁵¹When he arrived at the house, he would not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John, and James, and the child’s father and mother. ⁵²Everyone there was crying and mourning for the child. Jesus said, “Don’t cry; the child is not dead—she is only sleeping!”

⁵³They all laughed at him, because they knew that she was dead. ⁵⁴But Jesus took her by the hand and called out, “Get up, my child!” ⁵⁵Her life returned, and she got up at once, and Jesus ordered them to give her something to eat. ⁵⁶Her parents were astounded, but Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone what had happened.

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Disciples

9Jesus called the twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases. ²Then he sent them out to preach the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick, ^3*after saying to them, “Take nothing with you for the journey: no stick, no beggar’s bag, no food, no money, not even an extra shirt. ^4*Wherever you are welcomed, stay in the same house until you leave that town; ^5*wherever people don’t welcome you, leave that town and shake the dust off your feet as a warning to them.”

⁶The disciples left and travelled through all the villages, preaching the Good News and healing people everywhere.

Herod’s Confusion

^7*When Herod, the ruler of Galilee, heard about all the things that were happening, he was very confused, because some people were saying that John the Baptist had come back to life. ^8*Others were saying that Elijah had appeared, and still others that one of the prophets of long ago had come back to life. ⁹Herod said, “I had John’s head cut off; but who is this man I hear these things about?” And he kept trying to see Jesus.

Jesus Feeds Five Thousand Men

¹⁰The apostles came back and told Jesus everything they had done. He took them with him, and they went off by themselves to a town called Bethsaida. ¹¹When the crowds heard about it, they followed him. He welcomed them, spoke to them about the Kingdom of God, and healed those who needed it.

¹²When the sun was beginning to set, the twelve disciples came to him and said, “Send the people away so that they can go to the villages and farms round here and find food and lodging, because this is a lonely place.”

¹³But Jesus said to them, “You yourselves give them something to eat.”

They answered, “All we have are five loaves and two fish. Do you want us to go and buy food for this whole crowd?” ¹⁴(There were about 5,000 men there.)

Jesus said to his disciples, “Make the people sit down in groups of about fifty each.”

¹⁵After the disciples had done so, ¹⁶Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up to heaven, thanked God for them, broke them, and gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people. ¹⁷They all ate and had enough, and the disciples took up twelve baskets of what was left over.

Peter’s Declaration about Jesus

¹⁸One day when Jesus was praying alone, the disciples came to him. “Who do the crowds say I am?” he asked them.

^19*“Some say that you are John the Baptist,” they answered. “Others say that you are Elijah, while others say that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.”

^20*“What about you?” he asked them. “Who do you say I am?”

Peter answered, “You are God’s Messiah.”

Jesus Speaks about His Suffering and Death

²¹Then Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell this to anyone. ²²He also said to them, “The Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law. He will be put to death, but three days later he will be raised to life.”

^23*And he said to them all, “Anyone who wants to come with me must forget self, take up their cross every day, and follow me. ^24*For whoever wants to save their own life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for my sake will save it. ²⁵Will people gain anything if they win the whole world but are themselves lost or defeated? Of course not! ²⁶If people are ashamed of me and of my teaching, then the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. ²⁷I assure you that there are some here who will not die until they have seen the Kingdom of God.”

The Transfiguration

^28*About a week after he had said these things, Jesus took Peter, John, and James with him and went up a hill to pray. ^29*While he was praying, his face changed its appearance, and his clothes became dazzling white. ^30*Suddenly two men were there talking with him. They were Moses and Elijah, ^31*who appeared in heavenly glory and talked with Jesus about the way in which he would soon fulfill God’s purpose by dying in Jerusalem. ^32*Peter and his companions were sound asleep, but they woke up and saw Jesus’ glory and the two men who were standing with him. ^33*As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, how good it is that we are here! We will make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” (He did not really know what he was saying.)

^34*While he was still speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them with its shadow; and the disciples were afraid as the cloud came over them. ^35*A voice said from the cloud, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen—listen to him!”

³⁶When the voice stopped, there was Jesus all alone. The disciples kept quiet about all this, and told no one at that time anything they had seen.

Jesus Heals a Boy with an Evil Spirit

³⁷The next day Jesus and the three disciples went down from the hill, and a large crowd met Jesus. ³⁸A man shouted from the crowd, “Teacher! I beg you, look at my son—my only son! ³⁹A spirit attacks him with a sudden shout and throws him into a fit, so that he foams at the mouth; it keeps on hurting him and will hardly let him go! ⁴⁰I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they couldn’t.”

⁴¹Jesus answered, “How unbelieving and wrong you people are! How long must I stay with you? How long do I have to put up with you?” Then he said to the man, “Bring your son here.”

⁴²As the boy was coming, the demon knocked him to the ground and threw him into a fit. Jesus gave a command to the evil spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. ⁴³All the people were amazed at the mighty power of God.

Jesus Speaks Again about His Death

The people were still marvelling at everything Jesus was doing, when he said to his disciples, ⁴⁴“Don’t forget what I am about to tell you! The Son of Man is going to be handed over to the power of human beings.” ⁴⁵But the disciples did not know what this…