Mark 5

5 ¹ They came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gerasenes. ² When Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately a man with an unclean spirit met him, coming out of the tombs. ³ He lived among the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. ⁴ For he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart and broke the shackles 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 crying out and cutting himself with stones. ⁶ And when he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell down before him. ⁷ Crying out with a loud voice, he said, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you by God, do not torment me!" ⁸ For Jesus had been saying to him, "Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!"

⁹ And Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" He replied, "My name is Legion, for we are many." ^a a v9 A Roman legion numbered around six thousand soldiers — the name reveals this man was tormented by thousands of evil spirits.

¹⁰ And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the region. ¹¹ Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. ¹² And they begged him, "Send us to the pigs; let us enter them."

¹³ So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs, and the herd—about two thousand of them—rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea. ¹⁴ The herdsmen fled and reported it in the city and in the countryside, and people came to see what had happened. ¹⁵ They came to Jesus and saw the man who had been possessed by the demons, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind—and they were afraid. ¹⁶ Those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the man possessed by demons, and what had happened to the pigs. ¹⁷ And they began to beg Jesus to leave their region.

¹⁸ As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed begged to be with him. ¹⁹ But Jesus would not let him. Instead he said to him, "Go home to your own people and tell them how much our Father has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." ^b b v19 Where other translations read "the Lord," FHB names our Father—Jesus sends the healed man home to tell of the Father's mercy, the very mercy the man then sees revealed in Jesus himself.

²⁰ So he went away and began to proclaim throughout the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone was amazed. ^c c v20 The Decapolis — "ten cities" in Greek — was a region of largely Gentile cities south and east of the Sea of Galilee.

Healed by Faith, Raised by Love

²¹ When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was beside the sea. ²² Then came one of the leaders of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet ²³ and begged him earnestly, "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 Jesus went with him. And a great crowd followed him and pressed around him. ²⁵ And there was a woman with a discharge of blood that had gone on for twelve years. ²⁶ She had suffered much under many physicians and had spent all that she had, yet was no better but rather grew worse. ²⁷ She had heard about Jesus, and she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. ²⁸ For she kept saying, "If I just touch his garments, I will be made well." ²⁹ And immediately the flow of her blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.

³⁰ At once Jesus, sensing within himself that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and said, "Who touched my garments?"

³¹ And his disciples said to him, "You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, 'Who touched me?'"

³² And he looked around to see who had done it. ³³ But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth.

³⁴ And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction."

³⁵ While he was still speaking, people came from the house of the leader of the synagogue, saying, "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 And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James. ³⁸ They came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion—people weeping and wailing loudly. ³⁹ And when he had entered, he said to them, "Why all this commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping." ⁴⁰ And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside, took the child's father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. ⁴¹ Taking her by the hand, he said to her, "Talitha koum," which means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!" ⁴² And immediately the girl got up and began to walk (for she was twelve years old), and at once they were overcome with great amazement. ⁴³ And he gave them strict orders that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.