Luke 8:26–39

Jesus Cures a Demon-Possessed Man—Matthew 8:28–34; Mark 5:1–20

²⁶They landed in the region of the Gerasenes across from Galilee. ²⁷When Jesus stepped out on the shore, a certain man from the city met him. The man was possessed by demons and had not worn clothes for a long time. He would not stay in a house but lived in the tombs. ²⁸When he saw Jesus, he shouted, fell in front of him, and said in a loud voice, “Why are you bothering me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you not to torture me!” ²⁹Jesus ordered the evil spirit to come out of the man. (The evil spirit had controlled the man for a long time. People had kept him under guard. He was chained hand and foot. But he would break the chains. Then the demon would force him to go into the desert.) 

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

He answered, “Legion ^[Six Thousand^[.” (Many demons had entered him.) ³¹The demons begged Jesus not to order them to go into the bottomless pit. 

³²A large herd of pigs was feeding on a mountainside. The demons begged Jesus to let them enter those pigs. So he let them do this. ³³The demons came out of the man and went into the pigs. Then the herd rushed down the cliff into the lake and drowned. 

³⁴When those who had taken care of the pigs saw what had happened, they ran away. They reported everything in the city and countryside. ³⁵The people went to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone out. Dressed and in his right mind, he was sitting at Jesus’ feet. The people were frightened. ³⁶Those who had seen this told the people how Jesus had restored the demon-possessed man to health. 

³⁷Then all the people from the surrounding region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave because they were terrified. 

Jesus got into a boat and started back. ³⁸The man from whom the demons had gone out begged him, “Let me go with you.” 

But Jesus sent the man away and told him, ³⁹“Go home to your family, and tell them how much God has done for you.” So the man left. He went through the whole city and told people how much Jesus had done for him.