Mark 5–6

Demons Driven Out by the Master

5Then ^wthey came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gerasenes. ^x2As soon as He got out of the boat, a man with an unclean ^yspirit ^zcame out of the tombs ^aand met Him. ³He lived in the tombs. ^bNo one was able to restrain him anymore—even with chains ^c— ⁴because he often had been bound with shackles and chains, but had snapped off the chains and smashed ^dthe shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue ^ehim. ⁵And always, night ^fand day, he was crying out among the tombs ^gand in the mountains ^hand cutting himself with stones.

⁶When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and knelt down before Him. ⁷And he cried out with a loud voice, “What do You have to do with me, ⁱJesus, Son ^jof the Most High God? ^kI beg ^lYou before God, don’t torment ^mme!” ⁸For He had told him, “Come out of the man, you unclean ⁿspirit!” ^o

⁹“What is your name?” He asked him.

“My name is Legion,” ^pqhe answered Him, “because we are many.” ¹⁰And he kept begging Him not to send them out of the region.

¹¹Now a large herd of pigs ^rwas there, feeding ^son the hillside. ¹²The demons ^tbegged Him, “Send us to the pigs, so we may enter them.” ¹³And He gave them permission. Then the unclean ^uspirits ^vcame out and entered the pigs, and the herd of about 2,000 rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned there. ¹⁴The men who tended them ^wran off ^xand reported it in the town and the countryside, and people went to see what had happened. ¹⁵They came to Jesus and saw the man who had been demon-possessed ^yby the legion, ^zsitting there, dressed and in his right mind; ^aand they were afraid. ^b16The eyewitnesses described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed ^cman and told about the pigs. ¹⁷Then they began to beg Him to leave their region.

¹⁸As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed kept begging Him to be with Him. ¹⁹But He would not let him; instead, He told him, “Go back home to your own people, and report to them how much the Lord ^dhas done ^efor you and how He has had mercy on you.” ²⁰So he went out and began to proclaim ^fin the Decapolis ^ghow much Jesus had done for him, and they were all amazed. ^h

A Girl Restored and a Woman Healed

²¹When ⁱJesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side, a large crowd ^jgathered around Him while He was by the sea. ²²One of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, ^kcame, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at His feet ^l23and kept begging Him, “My little daughter is at death’s door. ^mCome and lay Your hands on ⁿher so she can get well ^oand live.”

²⁴So Jesus went with him, and a large crowd was following and pressing against Him. ²⁵A woman suffering from bleeding ^pfor 12 years ²⁶had endured ^qmuch under many doctors. ^rShe had spent everything she had and was not helped at all. On the contrary, she became worse. ²⁷Having heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched ^sHis robe. ^t28For she said, “If I can just touch His robes, I’ll be made well!” ^u29Instantly her flow of blood ceased, and she sensed in her body that she was cured ^vof her affliction.

³⁰At once Jesus realized in Himself that power ^whad gone out from Him. He turned around in the crowd ^xand said, “Who touched My robes?” ^y

³¹His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing against You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’ ”

³²So He was looking around to see who had done this. ³³Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came with fear and trembling, fell down ^zbefore Him, and told Him the whole truth. ^a34“Daughter,” He said to her, “your faith ^bhas made you well. ^cdGo in peace and be free ^effrom your affliction.” ^g

³⁵While He was still speaking, people came from the synagogue leader’s house and said, “Your daughter is dead. Why bother the Teacher ^hanymore?”

³⁶But when Jesus overheard what was said, He told the synagogue leader, “Don’t be afraid. ⁱOnly believe.” ³⁷He did not let anyone accompany Him except Peter, ^jJames, ^kand John, ^lJames’s brother. ³⁸They came to the leader’s house, and He saw a commotion—people weeping and wailing loudly. ³⁹He went in and said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? ^mThe child ⁿis not dead but asleep.” ^o

⁴⁰They started laughing at Him, but He put them all outside. He took the child’s father, ^pmother, and those who were with Him, and entered the place where the child was. ⁴¹Then He took the child ^qby the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” ^r(which is translated, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!” ^s). ⁴²Immediately the girl got up ^tand began to walk. ^u(She was 12 years old.) At this they were utterly astounded. ^v43Then He gave them strict orders that no one should know about this ^wand said that she should be given something to eat.

Rejection at Nazareth

6He ^xwent away from there and came to His hometown, ^yand His disciples ^zfollowed Him. ²When the Sabbath ^acame, He began to teach ^bin the synagogue, ^cand many who heard Him were astonished. “Where did this man get these things?” they said. “What is this wisdom ^dgiven to Him, and how are these miracles ^eperformed by His hands? ³Isn’t this the carpenter, ^fthe son of Mary, ^gand the brother of James, ^hJoses, Judas, ⁱand Simon? And aren’t His sisters here with us?” So they were offended ^jby Him.

⁴Then Jesus said to them, “A prophet ^kis not without honor ^lexcept in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his household.” ⁵So He was not able to do any miracles ^mnthere, except that He laid His hands on ^oa few sick ^ppeople and healed ^qthem. ⁶And He was amazed ^rat their unbelief. ^s

Commissioning the Twelve

Now He was going around the villages in a circuit, teaching. ^t7He ^usummoned ^vthe Twelve ^wand began to send ^xthem out in pairs and gave them authority over unclean ^yspirits. ^z8He instructed them to take nothing for the road except a walking stick: no bread, no traveling bag, ^ano money in their belts. ⁹They were to wear sandals, but not put on an extra shirt. ^b10Then He said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that place. ¹¹If any place does not welcome ^cyou and people refuse to listen to you, when you leave there, shake the dust off your feet ^das a testimony ^eagainst them.” ^f

¹²So they went out and preached ^gthat people should repent. ^h13And they were driving out many demons, ⁱanointing ^jmany sick ^kpeople with olive oil, ^land healing them. ^m

John the Baptist Beheaded

¹⁴King ⁿHerod ^oheard of this, because Jesus’ name ^phad become well known. Some ^qsaid, “John the Baptist ^rhas been raised from the dead, ^sand that’s why supernatural powers ^tare at work ^uin him.” ¹⁵But others said, “He’s Elijah.” ^vStill others said, “He’s a prophet ^w—like one of the prophets.” ^x

¹⁶When Herod ^yheard of it, he said, “John, ^zthe one I beheaded, has been raised!” ^a17For ^bHerod himself had given orders to arrest John and to chain ^chim in prison on account of Herodias, ^dhis brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married. ^e18John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful ^ffor you to have your brother’s wife!” ^g19So Herodias held a grudge against him and wanted to kill ^hhim. But she could not, ²⁰because Herod was in awe ⁱof ^jJohn and was protecting him, knowing he was a righteous ^kand holy ^lman. When Herod heard him he would be very disturbed, ^mnyet would hear him gladly. ^o

²¹Now an opportune time came on his birthday, when Herod gave a banquet ^pfor his nobles, ^qmilitary commanders, ^rand the leading men of Galilee. ^s22When Herodias’s own daughter ^tcame in and danced, ^ushe pleased Herod and his guests. The king said to the girl, “Ask me whatever you want, and I’ll give it to you.” ²³So he swore ^voaths ^wto her: “Whatever you ask me I will give you, up to half my kingdom.” ^x

²⁴Then she went out and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?”

“John the Baptist’s ^yhead!” she said.

²⁵Immediately she hurried to the king and said, “I want you to give me John the Baptist’s ^zhead on a platter ^a—right now!”

²⁶Though the king was deeply distressed, ^bbecause of his oaths ^cand the guests ^dhe did not want to refuse ^eher. ²⁷The king immediately sent for an executioner and commanded him to bring John’s head. So he went and beheaded him in prison, ²⁸brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. ²⁹When his disciples ^fgheard about it, they came and removed his corpse and placed it in a tomb. ^h

Feeding 5,000

³⁰The ⁱapostles ^jgathered around Jesus and reported to Him all that they had done and taught. ³¹He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a remote place and rest for a while.” For many people were coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. ³²So they went away in the boat by themselves to a remote place, ³³but many saw them leaving and recognized them. People ran there by land from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. ^k34So as He stepped ashore, He saw a huge crowd and had compassion ^lon them, because they were like sheep ^mwithout a shepherd. Then He began to teach them many things.

³⁵When it was already late, His disciples ⁿapproached Him and said, “This place is a wilderness, ^oand it is already late! ³⁶Send them away, so they can go into the surrounding countryside and villages to buy themselves something to eat.”

³⁷“You give them something to eat,” He responded.

They said to Him, “Should we go and buy 200 denarii ^pworth of bread and give them something to eat?”

³⁸And He asked them, “How many loaves do you have? Go look.”

When they found out they said, “Five, and two fish.”

³⁹Then He instructed them to have all the people sit down ^qin groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰So they sat down in ranks of hundreds and fifties. ⁴¹Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke the loaves. He kept giving them to His disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. ⁴²Everyone ate and was filled. ^r43Then they picked up 12 baskets full of pieces of bread and fish. ⁴⁴Now those who ate…