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.

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Footnotes

gGerasa; some manuscripts have Gadara (see Mt 8:28); others have Gergesa.
habyss: It was thought that the demons were to be imprisoned in the depths of the earth until their final punishment.