Mark 5–6

5TH CHAPTER

Jesus Cures a Demon-Possessed Man—Matthew 8:28–34; Luke 8:26–39

¹They arrived in the territory of the Gerasenes on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. ²As Jesus stepped out of the boat, a man came out of the tombs and met him. The man was controlled by an evil spirit ³and lived among the tombs. No one could restrain him any longer, not even with a chain. ⁴He had often been chained hand and foot. However, he snapped the chains off his hands and broke the chains from his feet. No one could control him. ⁵Night and day he was among the tombs and on the mountainsides screaming and cutting himself with stones. 

⁶The man saw Jesus at a distance. So he ran ⸤to Jesus⸥, bowed down in front of him, ⁷and shouted, “Why are you bothering me now, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won’t torture me.” ⁸He shouted this because Jesus said, “You evil spirit, come out of the man.” 

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

He told Jesus, “My name is Legion ^[Six Thousand^[, because there are many of us.” ¹⁰He begged Jesus not to send them out of the territory. 

¹¹A large herd of pigs was feeding on a mountainside nearby. ¹²The demons begged him, “Send us into the pigs! Let us enter them!” 

¹³Jesus let them do this. The evil spirits came out of the man and went into the pigs. The herd of about two thousand pigs rushed down the cliff into the sea and drowned. 

¹⁴Those who took care of the pigs ran away. In the city and countryside they reported everything that had happened. So the people came to see what had happened. ¹⁵They came to Jesus and saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons. The man was sitting there dressed and in his right mind. The people were frightened. ¹⁶Those who saw this told what had happened to the demon-possessed man and the pigs. ¹⁷Then the people began to beg Jesus to leave their territory. 

¹⁸As Jesus stepped into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged him, “Let me stay with you.” ¹⁹But Jesus would not allow it. Instead, he told the man, “Go home to your family, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been to you.” 

²⁰So the man left. He began to tell how much Jesus had done for him in the Ten Cities.^aEveryone was amazed. 

Jairus’ Daughter and a Woman with Chronic Bleeding—Matthew 9:18–26; Luke 8:40–56

²¹Jesus again crossed to the other side of the Sea of Galilee in a boat. A large crowd gathered around him by the seashore. 

²²A synagogue leader named Jairus also arrived. When he saw Jesus, he quickly bowed down in front of him. ²³He begged Jesus, “My little daughter is dying. Come, lay your hands on her so that she may get well and live.” 

²⁴Jesus went with the man. A huge crowd followed Jesus and pressed him on every side. 

²⁵In the crowd was a woman who had been suffering from chronic bleeding for twelve years. ²⁶Although she had been under the care of many doctors and had spent all her money, she had not been helped at all. Actually, she had become worse. ²⁷Since she had heard about Jesus, she came from behind in the crowd and touched his clothes. ²⁸She said, “If I can just touch his clothes, I’ll get well.” ²⁹Her bleeding stopped immediately. She felt cured from her illness. 

³⁰At that moment Jesus felt power had gone out of him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” 

³¹His disciples said to him, “How can you ask, ‘Who touched me,’ when you see the crowd pressing you on all sides?” 

³²But he kept looking around to see the woman who had done this. ³³The woman trembled with fear. She knew what had happened to her. So she quickly bowed in front of him and told him the whole truth. 

³⁴Jesus told her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace! Be cured from your illness.” 

³⁵While Jesus was still speaking to her, some people came from the synagogue leader’s home. They told the synagogue leader, “Your daughter has died. Why bother the teacher anymore?” 

³⁶When Jesus overheard what they said, he told the synagogue leader, “Don’t be afraid! Just believe.” 

³⁷Jesus allowed no one to go with him except Peter and the two brothers James and John. ³⁸When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a noisy crowd there. People were crying and sobbing loudly. ³⁹When he came into the house, he asked them, “Why are you making so much noise and crying? The child isn’t dead. She’s just sleeping.” 

⁴⁰They laughed at him. So he made all of them go outside. Then he took the child’s father, mother, and his three disciples and went to the child. ⁴¹Jesus took the child’s hand and said to her, “Talitha, koum!” which means, “Little girl, I’m telling you to get up!” 

⁴²The girl got up at once and started to walk. (She was twelve years old.) They were astonished. 

⁴³Jesus ordered them not to let anyone know about this. He also told them to give the little girl something to eat. 

6TH CHAPTER

Nazareth Rejects Jesus—Matthew 13:54–58; Luke 4:14–30

¹Jesus left that place and went to his hometown. His disciples followed him. ²When the day of rest—a holy day, came, he began to teach in the synagogue. He amazed many who heard him. They asked, “Where did this man get these ideas? Who gave him this kind of wisdom and the ability to do such great miracles? ³Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” So they took offense at him. 

⁴But Jesus told them, “The only place a prophet isn’t honored is in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his own house.” ⁵He couldn’t work any miracles there except to lay his hands on a few sick people and cure them. ⁶Their unbelief amazed him. 

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve—Matthew 10:5–42; Luke 9:1–6

Then Jesus went around to the villages and taught. 

⁷He called the twelve apostles, sent them out two by two, and gave them authority over evil spirits. ⁸He instructed them to take nothing along on the trip except a walking stick. They were not to take any food, a traveling bag, or money in their pockets. ⁹They could wear sandals but could not take along a change of clothes. 

¹⁰He told them, “Whenever you go into a home, stay there until you’re ready to leave that place. ¹¹Wherever people don’t welcome you or listen to you, leave and shake the dust from your feet as a warning to them.” 

¹²So the apostles went and told people that they should turn to God and change the way they think and act. ¹³They also forced many demons out of people and poured oil on many who were sick to cure them. 

Recalling John’s Death—Matthew 14:1–12; Luke 9:7–9

¹⁴King Herod heard about Jesus, because Jesus’ name had become well-known. Some people were saying, “John the Baptizer has come back to life. That’s why he has the power to perform these miracles.” ¹⁵Others said, “He is Elijah.” Still others said, “He is a prophet like one of the other prophets.” ¹⁶But when Herod heard about it, he said, “I had John’s head cut off, and he has come back to life!” 

¹⁷Herod had sent men who had arrested John, tied him up, and put him in prison. Herod did that for Herodias, whom he had married. (She used to be his brother Philip’s wife.) ¹⁸John had been telling Herod, “It’s not 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 wasn’t allowed to do it ²⁰because Herod was afraid of John. Herod knew that John was a fair and holy man, so he protected him. When he listened to John, he would become very disturbed, and yet he liked to listen to him. 

²¹An opportunity finally came on Herod’s birthday. Herod gave a dinner for his top officials, army officers, and the most important people of Galilee. ²²His daughter, that is, Herodias’ daughter, came in and danced. Herod and his guests were delighted with her. The king told the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.” ²³He swore an oath to her: “I’ll give you anything you ask for, up to half of my kingdom.” 

²⁴So she went out and asked her mother, “What should I ask for?” 

Her mother said, “Ask for the head of John the Baptizer.” 

²⁵So the girl hurried back to the king with her request. She said, “I want you to give me the head of John the Baptizer on a platter at once.” 

²⁶The king deeply regretted his promise. But because of his oath and his guests, he didn’t want to refuse her. ²⁷Immediately, the king sent a guard and ordered him to bring John’s head. The guard cut off John’s head in prison. ²⁸Then he brought the head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. 

²⁹When John’s disciples heard about this, they came for his body and laid it in a tomb. 

Jesus Feeds Five Thousand—Matthew 14:13–21; Luke 9:10–17; John 6:1–14

³⁰The apostles gathered around Jesus. They reported to him everything they had done and taught. ³¹So he said to them, “Let’s go to a place where we can be alone to rest for a while.” Many people were coming and going, and Jesus and the apostles didn’t even have a chance to eat. 

³²So they went away in a boat to a place where they could be alone. ³³But many people saw them leave and recognized them. The people ran from all the cities and arrived ahead of them. ³⁴When Jesus got out of the boat, he saw a large crowd and felt sorry for them. They were like sheep without a shepherd. So he spent a lot of time teaching them. 

³⁵When it was late, his disciples came to him. They said, “No one lives around here, and it’s already late. ³⁶Send the people to the closest farms and villages to buy themselves something to eat.” 

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

They said to him, “Should we go and spend about a year’s wages on bread to feed them?” 

³⁸He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” 

When they found out, they told him, “Five loaves of bread and two fish.” 

³⁹Then he ordered all of them to sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰They sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. 

⁴¹After…