The Healing of the Gadarene Demoniac^(A)

5 They went to the other side of the sea to the region of the Gadarenes. ² When He had come out of the boat, immediately a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs and met Him. ³ He lived among the tombs. And no one could constrain him, not even with chains, ⁴ because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. But he had pulled the chains apart and broken the shackles to pieces. And no one could subdue him. ⁵ Always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones.

⁶ But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran up and kneeled before Him, ⁷ and cried out with a loud voice, “What have You to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure You by God, do not torment me.” ⁸ For Jesus said to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”

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

He answered, “My name is Legion. For we are many.” ¹⁰ And he begged Him repeatedly not to send them away out of the country.

¹¹ Now there was a great herd of swine feeding near the mountains. ¹² All the demons pleaded with Him, asking, “Send us to the swine, so that we may enter them.” ¹³ At once, Jesus gave them leave. Then the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine. And the herd, numbering about two thousand, ran wildly down a steep hill into the sea and were drowned in the sea.

¹⁴ Those who fed the swine fled and reported it in the city and in the country. And people went out to see what it was that had happened. ¹⁵ They came to Jesus and saw him who had been possessed with the legion of demons sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. ¹⁶ Those who saw it told them how it befell him who had been possessed with the demons and also concerning the swine. ¹⁷ Then they began to plead with Him to depart out of their region.

¹⁸ When He entered the boat, he who had been possessed with the demons prayed Him that he might be with Him. ¹⁹ Jesus did not let him, but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you and how He has had compassion on you.” ²⁰ So he departed and began to proclaim in the Decapolis^[a] what great things Jesus had done for him. And everyone was amazed.

The Healing of the Gadarene Demoniac^(A)

²⁶ They sailed to the country of the Gadarenes, which is across from Galilee. ²⁷ When He stepped out on land, a man from the city who had demons for a long time met Him. He wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house but in the tombs. ²⁸ When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, “What have You to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I plead with You, do not torment me.” ²⁹ For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. It often had seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles. But he broke the shackles and was driven by the demon into the wilderness.

³⁰ Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

He said, “Legion,” because many demons had entered him. ³¹ And they begged Him not to command them to go out into the abyss.

³² There was a large herd of swine feeding on the mountain. They begged Him to permit them to enter them, and He permitted them. ³³ Then the demons went out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd ran violently down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

³⁴ When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and reported it in the city and in the country. ³⁵ Then they went out to see what had happened, and came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had departed sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind. And they were afraid. ³⁶ Those who had seen it told them how he who had been possessed by demons was healed. ³⁷ Then the whole crowd from the surrounding country of the Gadarenes asked Him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. So He went into the boat and returned.

³⁸ Now the man from whom the demons had departed asked Him if he could stay with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying, ³⁹ “Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you.” So he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.