Mark 5:1–17

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.