Mark 5–6

A Man with Demons Inside Him

5Jesus and his followers went to the other side of the lake to the area of the Gerasene ⁿ people. ²When Jesus got out of the boat, instantly a man with an evil spirit came to him from the burial caves. ³This man lived in the caves, and no one could tie him up, not even with a chain. ⁴Many times people had used chains to tie the man’s hands and feet, but he always broke them off. No one was strong enough to control him. ⁵Day and night he would wander around the burial caves and on the hills, screaming and cutting himself with stones. ⁶While Jesus was still far away, the man saw him, ran to him, and fell down before him.

⁷The man shouted in a loud voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I command you in God’s name not to torture me!” ⁸He said this because Jesus was saying to him, “You evil spirit, come out of the man.”

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

He answered, “My name is Legion, ⁿ because we are many spirits.” ¹⁰He begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of that area.

¹¹A large herd of pigs was feeding on a hill near there. ¹²The demons begged Jesus, “Send us into the pigs; let us go into them.” ¹³So Jesus allowed them to do this. The evil spirits left the man and went into the pigs. Then the herd of pigs—about two thousand of them—rushed down the hill into the lake and were drowned.

¹⁴The herdsmen ran away and went to the town and to the countryside, telling everyone about this. So people went out to see what had happened. ¹⁵They came to Jesus and saw the man who used to have the many evil spirits, sitting, clothed, and in his right mind. And they were frightened. ¹⁶The people who saw this told the others what had happened to the man who had the demons living in him, and they told about the pigs. ¹⁷Then the people began to beg Jesus to leave their area.

¹⁸As Jesus was getting back into the boat, the man who was freed from the demons begged to go with him.

¹⁹But Jesus would not let him. He said, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you.” ²⁰So the man left and began to tell the people in the Ten Towns ⁿ about what Jesus had done for him. And everyone was amazed.

Jesus Gives Life to a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman

²¹When Jesus went in the boat back to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him there. ²²A leader of the synagogue, named Jairus, came there, saw Jesus, and fell at his feet. ²³He begged Jesus, saying again and again, “My daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so she will be healed and will live.” ²⁴So Jesus went with him.

A large crowd followed Jesus and pushed very close around him. ²⁵Among them was a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. ²⁶She had suffered very much from many doctors and had spent all the money she had, but instead of improving, she was getting worse. ²⁷When the woman heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his coat. ²⁸She thought, “If I can just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” ²⁹Instantly her bleeding stopped, and she felt in her body that she was healed from her disease.

³⁰At once Jesus felt power go out from him. So he turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

³¹His followers said, “Look at how many people are pushing against you! And you ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”

³²But Jesus continued looking around to see who had touched him. ³³The woman, knowing that she was healed, came and fell at Jesus’ feet. Shaking with fear, she told him the whole truth. ³⁴Jesus said to her, “Dear woman, you are made well because you believed. Go in peace; be healed of your disease.”

³⁵While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of the synagogue leader. They said, “Your daughter is dead. There is no need to bother the teacher anymore.”

³⁶But Jesus paid no attention to what they said. He told the synagogue leader, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

³⁷Jesus let only Peter, James, and John the brother of James go with him. ³⁸When they came to the house of the synagogue leader, Jesus found many people there making lots of noise and crying loudly. ³⁹Jesus entered the house and said to them, “Why are you crying and making so much noise? The child is not dead, only asleep.” ⁴⁰But they laughed at him. So, after throwing them out of the house, Jesus took the child’s father and mother and his three followers into the room where the child was. ⁴¹Taking hold of the girl’s hand, he said to her, “Talitha, koum!” (This means, “Young girl, I tell you to stand up!”) ⁴²At once the girl stood right up and began walking. (She was twelve years old.) Everyone was completely amazed. ⁴³Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell people about this. Then he told them to give the girl something to eat.

Jesus Goes to His Hometown

6Jesus left there and went to his hometown, and his followers went with him. ²On the Sabbath day he taught in the synagogue. Many people heard him and were amazed, saying, “Where did this man get these teachings? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? And where did he get the power to do miracles? ³He is just the carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. And his sisters are here with us.” So the people were upset with Jesus.

⁴Jesus said to them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his hometown and with his own people and in his own home.” ⁵So Jesus was not able to work any miracles there except to heal a few sick people by putting his hands on them. ⁶He was amazed at how many people had no faith.

Then Jesus went to other villages in that area and taught. ⁷He called his twelve followers together and got ready to send them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits. ⁸This is what Jesus commanded them: “Take nothing for your trip except a walking stick. Take no bread, no bag, and no money in your pockets. ⁹Wear sandals, but take only the clothes you are wearing. ¹⁰When you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. ¹¹If the people in a certain place refuse to welcome you or listen to you, leave that place. Shake its dust off your feet ⁿ as a warning to them.” ⁿ

¹²So the followers went out and preached that people should change their hearts and lives. ¹³They forced many demons out and put olive oil on many sick people and healed them.

How John the Baptist Was Killed

¹⁴King Herod heard about Jesus, because he was now well known. Some people said, ⁿ “He is John the Baptist, who has risen from the dead. That is why he can work these miracles.”

¹⁵Others said, “He is Elijah.” ⁿ

Other people said, “Jesus is a prophet, like the prophets who lived long ago.”

¹⁶When Herod heard this, he said, “I killed John by cutting off his head. Now he has risen from the dead!”

¹⁷Herod himself had ordered his soldiers to arrest John and put him in prison in order to please his wife, Herodias. She had been the wife of Philip, Herod’s brother, but then Herod had married her. ¹⁸John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to be married to your brother’s wife.” ¹⁹So Herodias hated John and wanted to kill him. But she couldn’t, ²⁰because Herod was afraid of John and protected him. He knew John was a good and holy man. Also, though John’s preaching always bothered him, he enjoyed listening to John.

²¹Then the perfect time came for Herodias to cause John’s death. On Herod’s birthday, he gave a dinner party for the most important government leaders, the commanders of his army, and the most important people in Galilee. ²²When the daughter of Herodias ⁿ came in and danced, she pleased Herod and the people eating with him.

So King Herod said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I will give it to you.” ²³He promised her, “Anything you ask for I will give to you—up to half of my kingdom.”

²⁴The girl went to her mother and asked, “What should I ask for?”

Her mother answered, “Ask for the head of John the Baptist.”

²⁵At once the girl went back to the king and said to him, “I want the head of John the Baptist right now on a platter.”

²⁶Although the king was very sad, he had made a promise, and his dinner guests had heard it. So he did not want to refuse what she asked. ²⁷Immediately the king sent a soldier to bring John’s head. The soldier went and cut off John’s head in the prison ²⁸and brought it back on a platter. He gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. ²⁹When John’s followers heard this, they came and got John’s body and put it in a tomb.

More than Five Thousand Fed

³⁰The apostles gathered around Jesus and told him about all the things they had done and taught. ³¹Crowds of people were coming and going so that Jesus and his followers did not even have time to eat. He said to them, “Come away by yourselves, and we will go to a lonely place to get some rest.”

³²So they went in a boat by themselves to a lonely place. ³³But many people saw them leave and recognized them. So from all the towns they ran to the place where Jesus was going, and they got there before him. ³⁴When he arrived, he saw a great crowd waiting. He felt sorry for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began to teach them many things.

³⁵When it was late in the day, his followers came to him and said, “No one lives in this place, and it is already very late. ³⁶Send the people away so they can go to the countryside and towns around here to buy themselves something to eat.”

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

They said to him, “We would all have to work a month to earn enough money to buy that much bread!”

³⁸Jesus asked them, “How many loaves of bread do you have? Go and see.”

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

³⁹Then Jesus told his followers to have the people sit in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰So they sat in groups of fifty or a hundred. ⁴¹Jesus took the five loaves and two fish and, looking up to…