1 They came to the other side
of the lake, to the country of the Gerasenes. 2 And when he had stepped
out of the boat, immediately a man out of the tombs with an unclean
spirit met him. 3 He lived among the tombs; and no one could restrain
him any more, even with a chain; 4 for he had often been restrained with
shackles and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles
he broke in pieces; and no one had the strength to subdue him. 5 Night
and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always howling and
bruising himself with stones. 6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he
ran and bowed down before him; 7 and he shouted at the top of his 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 he had said to him, ‘Come out of
the man, you unclean spirit!’ 9 Then Jesus asked him, ‘What is your
name?’ He replied, ‘My name is Legion; for we are many.’ 10 He begged
him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11 Now there on the
hillside a great herd of swine was feeding; 12 and the unclean spirits
begged him, ‘Send us into the swine; let us enter them.’ 13 So he gave
them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine;
and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank
into the lake, and were drowned in the lake.
14 The swineherds ran off and told it in the city and in the country.
Then people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 They came to
Jesus and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his right mind,
the very man who had had the legion; and they were afraid. 16 Those who
had seen what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine reported it.
17 Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighbourhood. 18 As he
was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by demons
begged him that he might be with him. 19 But Jesus refused, and said to
him, ‘Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done
for you, and what mercy he has shown you.’ 20 And he went away and began
to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him; and
everyone was amazed.
21 When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great
crowd gathered round him; and he was by the lake. 22 Then one of the
leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at
his feet 23 and begged him repeatedly, ‘My little daughter is at the
point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made
well, and live.’ 24 So he went with him.
And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. 25 Now there was a
woman who had been suffering from haemorrhages for twelve years. 26 She
had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had;
and she was no better, but rather grew worse. 27 She had heard about
Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 for
she said, ‘If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.’ 29
Immediately her haemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she
was healed of her disease. 30 Immediately aware that power had gone
forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched
my clothes?’ 31 And his disciples said to him, ‘You see the crowd
pressing in on you; how can you say, “Who touched me?” ’ 32 He looked
all round to see who had done it. 33 But the woman, knowing what had
happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and
told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has
made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.’
35 While he was still speaking, some people came from the leader’s house
to say, ‘Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?’ 36
But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the
synagogue, ‘Do not fear, only believe.’ 37 He allowed no one to follow
him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. 38 When they
came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion,
people weeping and wailing loudly. 39 When he had entered, he said to
them, ‘Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but
sleeping.’ 40 And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and
took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him, and went
in where the child was. 41 He took her by the hand and said to her,
‘Talitha cum’, which means, ‘Little girl, get up!’ 42 And immediately
the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age).
At this they were overcome with amazement. 43 He strictly ordered them
that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to
eat.
CONTINUE |