Mark 5–6

Jesus Heals a Man with Evil Spirits

5Jesus and his disciples arrived on the other side of Lake Galilee, in the territory of Gerasa. ²As soon as Jesus got out of the boat, he was met by a man who came out of the burial caves there. This man had an evil spirit in him ³and lived among the tombs. Nobody could keep him chained up any more; ⁴many times his feet and hands had been chained, but every time he broke the chains and smashed the irons on his feet. He was too strong for anyone to control him. ⁵Day and night he wandered among the tombs and through the hills, screaming and cutting himself with stones.

⁶He was some distance away when he saw Jesus; so he ran, fell on his knees before him, ⁷and screamed in a loud voice, “Jesus, Son of the Most High God! What do you want with me? For God’s sake, I beg you, don’t punish me!” ⁸(He said this because Jesus was saying, “Evil spirit, come out of this man!”)

⁹So Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

The man answered, “My name is ‘Mob’—there are so many of us!” ¹⁰And he kept begging Jesus not to send the evil spirits out of that region.

¹¹There was a large herd of pigs near by, feeding on a hillside. ¹²So the spirits begged Jesus, “Send us to the pigs, and let us go into them.” ¹³He let them go, and the evil spirits went out of the man and entered the pigs. The whole herd—about 2,000 pigs in all—rushed down the side of the cliff into the lake and was drowned.

¹⁴The men who had been taking care of the pigs ran away and spread the news in the town and among the farms. People went out to see what had happened, ¹⁵and when they came to Jesus, they saw the man who used to have the mob of demons in him. He was sitting there, clothed and in his right mind; and they were all afraid. ¹⁶Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the man with the demons, and about the pigs.

¹⁷So they asked Jesus to leave their territory.

¹⁸As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had had the demons begged him, “Let me go with you!”

¹⁹But Jesus would not let him. Instead, he told him, “Go back home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how kind he has been to you.”

²⁰So the man left and went all through the Ten Towns, telling what Jesus had done for him. And all who heard it were amazed.

Jairus’ Daughter and the Woman Who Touched Jesus’ Cloak

²¹Jesus went back across to the other side of the lake. There at the lakeside a large crowd gathered round him. ²²Jairus, an official of the local synagogue, arrived, and when he saw Jesus, he threw himself down at his feet ²³and begged him earnestly, “My little daughter is very ill. Please come and place your hands on her, so that she will get well and live!”

²⁴Then Jesus started off with him. So many people were going along with Jesus that they were crowding him from every side.

²⁵There was a woman who had suffered terribly from severe bleeding for twelve years, ²⁶even though she had been treated by many doctors. She had spent all her money, but instead of getting better she got worse all the time. ²⁷She had heard about Jesus, so she came in the crowd behind him, ²⁸saying to herself, “If I just touch his clothes, I will get well.”

²⁹She touched his cloak, and her bleeding stopped at once; and she had the feeling inside herself that she was healed of her trouble. ³⁰At once Jesus knew that power had gone out of him, so he turned round in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

³¹His disciples answered, “You see how the people are crowding you; why do you ask who touched you?”

³²But Jesus kept looking round to see who had done it. ³³The woman realized what had happened to her, so she came, trembling with fear, knelt at his feet, and told him the whole truth. ³⁴Jesus said to her, “My daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your trouble.”

³⁵While Jesus was saying this, some messengers came from Jairus’ house and told him, “Your daughter has died. Why bother the Teacher any longer?”

³⁶Jesus paid no attention to^g what they said, but told him, “Don’t be afraid, only believe.” ³⁷Then he did not let anyone else go on with him except Peter and James and his brother John. ³⁸They arrived at Jairus’ house, where Jesus saw the confusion and heard all the loud crying and wailing. ³⁹He went in and said to them, “Why all this confusion? Why are you crying? The child is not dead—she is only sleeping!”

⁴⁰They laughed at him, so he put them all out, took the child’s father and mother and his three disciples, and went into the room where the child was lying. ⁴¹He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha, koum,” which means, “Little girl, I tell you to get up!”

⁴²She got up at once and started walking around. (She was twelve years old.) When this happened, they were completely amazed. ⁴³But Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell anyone, and he said, “Give her something to eat.”

Jesus Is Rejected at Nazareth

6Jesus left that place and went back to his home town, followed by his disciples. ²On the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue. Many people were there; and when they heard him, they were all amazed. “Where did he get all this?” they asked. “What wisdom is this that has been given him? How does he perform miracles? ³Isn’t he the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon? Aren’t his sisters living here?” And so they rejected him.

^4*Jesus said to them, “Prophets are respected everywhere except in their own home town and by their relatives and their family.”

⁵He was not able to perform any miracles there, except that he placed his hands on a few sick people and healed them. ⁶He was greatly surprised, because the people did not have faith.

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Disciples

Then Jesus went to the villages round there, teaching the people. ⁷He called the twelve disciples together and sent them out two by two. He gave them authority over the evil spirits ^8*and ordered them, “Don’t take anything with you on your journey except a stick—no bread, no beggar’s bag, no money in your pockets. ^9*Wear sandals, but don’t carry an extra shirt.” ^10*He also said, “Wherever you are welcomed, stay in the same house until you leave that place. ^11*If you come to a town where people do not welcome you or will not listen to you, leave it and shake the dust off your feet. That will be a warning to them!”

¹²So they went out and preached that people should turn away from their sins. ^13*They drove out many demons, and rubbed olive oil on many sick people and healed them.

The Death of John the Baptist

^14*Now King Herod^h heard about all this, because Jesus’ reputation had spread everywhere. Some people were saying, “John the Baptist has come back to life! That is why he has this power to perform miracles.”

^15*Others, however, said, “He is Elijah.”

Others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.”

¹⁶When Herod heard it, he said, “He is John the Baptist! I had his head cut off, but he has come back to life!” ^17*Herod himself had ordered John’s arrest, and he had him chained and put in prison. Herod did this because of Herodias, whom he had married, even though she was the wife of his brother Philip. ^18*John the Baptist kept telling Herod, “It isn’t right for you to be married to your brother’s wife!”

¹⁹So Herodias held a grudge against John and wanted to kill him, but she could not because of Herod. ²⁰Herod was afraid of John because he knew that John was a good and holy man, and so he kept him safe. He liked to listen to him, even though he became greatly disturbed every time he heard him.

²¹Finally Herodias got her chance. It was on Herod’s birthday, when he gave a feast for all the chief government officials, the military commanders, and the leading citizens of Galilee. ²²The daughter of Herodiasⁱ came in and danced, and pleased Herod and his guests. So the king said to the girl, “What would you like to have? I will give you anything you want.” ²³With many vows he said to her, “I swear that I will give you anything you ask for, even as much as half my kingdom!”

²⁴So the girl went out and asked her mother, “What shall I ask for?”

“The head of John the Baptist,” she answered.

²⁵The girl hurried back at once to the king and demanded, “I want you to give me here and now the head of John the Baptist on a dish!”

²⁶This made the king very sad, but he could not refuse her because of the vows he had made in front of all his guests. ²⁷So he sent off a guard at once with orders to bring John’s head. The guard left, went to the prison, and cut John’s head off; ²⁸then he brought it on a dish and gave it to the girl, who gave it to her mother. ²⁹When John’s disciples heard about this, they came and took away his body, and buried it.

Jesus Feeds Five Thousand Men

³⁰The apostles returned and met with Jesus, and told him all they had done and taught. ³¹There were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his disciples didn’t even have time to eat. So he said to them, “Let us go off by ourselves to some place where we will be alone and you can rest for a while.” ³²So they started out in a boat by themselves for a lonely place.

³³Many people, however, saw them leave and knew at once who they were; so they went from all the towns and ran ahead by land and arrived at the place ahead of Jesus and his disciples. ^34*When Jesus got out of the boat, he saw this large crowd, and his heart was filled with pity for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began to teach them many things. ³⁵When it was getting late, his disciples came to him and said, “It is already very late, and this is a lonely place. ³⁶Send the people away, and let them go to the nearby farms and villages in order to buy themselves something to eat.”

³⁷“You yourselves give them something to eat,” Jesus answered.

They asked, “Do you want us to go and spend two hundred silver coins^j on bread in order to feed them?”

³⁸So Jesus asked them, “How much bread…