Mark 5
JESUS
Restores a Demon-Possessed Man
5 They went across the lake to the
region of the Gerasenes.
2 When
JESUS got out
of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet HIM.
3 This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore,
not even with a chain.
4 For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the
chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to
subdue him.
5 Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out
and cut himself with stones.
6 When he saw JESUS
from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of HIM.
7 He shouted at the top of his
voice,
‘What
do you want with me, JESUS,
SON OF THE MOST HIGH GOD? In GOD’s name don’t torture me!”
8 For JESUS had said to him, ‘Come out of this man, you impure spirit!’
9 Then JESUS
asked him, ‘What
is your name?’
‘My name is Legion,’ he
replied, ‘for we are many.’
10 And he begged JESUS again and again
not to send them out of the area.
11 A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside.
12 The demons begged JESUS, ‘Send us among
the pigs; allow us to go into them.’
13 HE gave them permission, and the
impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in
number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.
14 Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and
countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened.
15 When they came to JESUS, they saw the
man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there,
dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.
16 Those who had seen it told the
people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as
well.
17 Then the people began to plead
with JESUS
to leave their region.
18 As JESUS
was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go
with him.
19 JESUS did
not let him, but said, ‘Go home to your own people and tell them how much THE LORD has done for
you, and how HE has had mercy on you.’
20 So the man
went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much JESUS had done for
him. And all the people were amazed.
JESUS
Raises a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman
21 When JESUS had again crossed over by boat to
the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around HIM while HE was
by the lake.
22 Then one of the synagogue
leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw JESUS, he fell at HIS feet.
23 He pleaded earnestly with HIM,
‘My
little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that
she will be healed and live.’
24 So JESUS went with him.
A large crowd followed and pressed
around HIM.
25 And a woman was there who had been
subject to bleeding for twelve years.
26 She had suffered a great deal
under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of
getting better she grew worse.
27 When she heard about JESUS, she came up
behind HIM in the crowd and touched HIS cloak,
28 because she thought, ‘If I just
touch HIS clothes, I will be healed.’
29 Immediately
her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her
suffering.
30 At once JESUS realized that power had gone out from HIM. HE
turned around in the crowd and asked, ‘Who touched my clothes?’
31 ‘You see the people crowding against you,’ HIS disciples answered,
‘and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’
32 But JESUS
kept looking around to see who had done it.
33 Then the woman, knowing what had
happened to her, came and fell at HIS feet and, trembling with fear, told HIM
the whole truth.
34 HE said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in
peace and be freed from your suffering.’
35 While JESUS
was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue
leader. ‘Your daughter is dead,’ they said.
‘Why
bother THE TEACHER
anymore?’
36 Overhearing what they said, JESUS told him, ‘Don’t be afraid; just believe.’
37 HE did not let anyone follow HIM except Peter, James and John the
brother of James.
38 When they came to the home of the
synagogue leader, JESUS
saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly.
39 HE went in and said to them, ‘Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not
dead but asleep.’
40 But they
laughed at HIM.
After HE put them all out, HE took
the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with HIM, and went in
where the child was.
41 He took her by the hand and
said to her, ‘Talitha
koum!’ (which
means ‘Little
girl, I say to you, get up!’).
42 Immediately the girl stood up and
began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely
astonished.
43 HE gave strict orders not to let
anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.”
