Mark 5:1–20

Jesus Saves a Man with Many Demons

1 aThen they came to the other side of the sea, into the region of the Gerasenes.

2 And when He got out of athe boat, immediately a man from the tombs bwith an unclean spirit met Him,

3 who had his dwelling among the tombs. And no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain;

4 because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him.

5 And constantly, night and day, among the tombs and in the mountains, he was crying out and gashing himself with stones.

6 And seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him;

7 and crying out with a loud voice, he *said, “1aWhat do I have to do with You, Jesus, bSon of cthe Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!”

8 For He had been saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”

9 And He was asking him, “What is your name?” And he *said to Him, “My name is aLegion; for we are many.”

10 And he began pleading with Him earnestly not to send them out of the region.

11 Now there was a large herd of swine feeding 1nearby on the mountain.

12 And the demons pleaded with Him, saying, “Send us into the swine so that we may enter them.”

13 And Jesus gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two thousand of them; and they were drowned in the sea.

14 And their herdsmen ran away and reported it in the city and in the countryside. And the people came to see what it was that had happened.

15 And they *came to Jesus and *observed the ademon-possessed man sitting down, bclothed and cin his right mind, the very man who had the “dlegion”; and they became frightened.

16 And those who had seen it recounted to them how this had happened to the ademon-possessed man, and all about the swine.

17 And they began to aplead with Him to leave their region.

18 aAnd as He was getting into the boat, the man who had been bdemon-possessed was pleading with Him that he might 1accompany Him.

19 And He did not let him, but He *said to him, “aGo home to your people and report to them 1what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.”

20 And he went away and began to apreach in the bDecapolis 1what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was marveling.