Jesus Frees a Man From Evil Spirits^(A)

5 Jesus and his followers went across the lake to the area where the Gerasene people^[a] lived. ² When Jesus got out of the boat, a man came to him from the caves where the dead are buried. This man had an evil spirit living inside him. ³ He lived in the burial caves. No one could keep him tied up, even with chains. ⁴ Many times people had put chains on his hands and feet, but he broke the chains. No one was strong enough to control him. ⁵ Day and night he stayed around the burial caves and on the hills. He would scream and cut himself with rocks.

⁶ While Jesus was still far away, the man saw him. He ran to Jesus and bowed down before him. ^7-8 As Jesus was saying, “You evil spirit, come out of this man,” the man shouted loudly, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you in God’s name not to punish me!”

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

The man answered, “My name is Legion,^[b] because there are many spirits inside me.” ¹⁰ The spirits inside the man begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of that area.

¹¹ A large herd of pigs was eating on a hill near there. ¹² The evil spirits begged Jesus, “Send us to the pigs. Let us go into them.” ¹³ So Jesus allowed them to do this. The evil spirits left the man and went into the pigs. Then the herd of pigs ran down the hill and into the lake. They were all drowned. There were about 2000 pigs in that herd.

¹⁴ The men who had the work of caring for the pigs ran away. They ran to the town and to the farms and told everyone what happened. The people went out to see. ¹⁵ They came to Jesus, and they saw the man who had the many evil spirits. He was sitting down and was wearing clothes. He was in his right mind again. When they saw this, they were afraid. ¹⁶ Those who had seen what Jesus did told the others what happened to the man who had the demons living in him. And they also told about the pigs. ¹⁷ Then the people began to beg Jesus to leave their area.

¹⁸ Jesus was preparing to leave in the boat. The man who was now free from the demons begged to go with him. ¹⁹ But Jesus did not allow the man to go. He said, “Go home to your family and friends. Tell them about all that the Lord did for you. Tell them how the Lord was good to you.”

²⁰ So the man left and told the people in the Ten Towns about the great things Jesus did for him. Everyone was amazed.

Jesus Frees a Man From Evil Spirits^(A)

²⁶ Jesus and his followers sailed on across the lake. They sailed to the area where the Gerasene people live, across from Galilee. ²⁷ When Jesus got out of the boat, a man from that town came to him. This man had demons inside him. For a long time he had worn no clothes. He did not live in a house but in the caves where the dead are buried.

^28-29 The demon inside the man had often seized him, and he had been put in jail with his hands and feet in chains. But he would always break the chains. The demon inside him would force him to go out to the places where no one lived. Jesus commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man. When the man saw Jesus, he fell down before him, shouting loudly, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Please, don’t punish me!”

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

The man answered, “Legion.”^[a] (He said his name was “Legion” because many demons had gone into him.) ³¹ The demons begged Jesus not to send them into the bottomless pit.^{[b] 32} On that hill there was a big herd of pigs eating. The demons begged Jesus to allow them to go into the pigs. So he allowed them to do this. ³³ Then the demons came out of the man and went into the pigs. The herd of pigs ran down the hill into the lake, and all were drowned.

³⁴ The men who were caring for the pigs ran away and told the story in the fields and in the town. ³⁵ People went out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and found the man sitting there at the feet of Jesus. The man had clothes on and was in his right mind again; the demons were gone. This made the people afraid. ³⁶ The men who saw these things happen told the others all about how Jesus made the man well. ³⁷ All those who lived in the area around Gerasa asked Jesus to go away because they were afraid.

So Jesus got into the boat to go back to Galilee. ³⁸ The man he had healed begged to go with him. But Jesus sent him away, saying, ³⁹ “Go back home and tell people what God did for you.”

So the man went all over town telling what Jesus had done for him.