Mark

¹They went across the sea to the region of the Gadarenes.

²When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit immediately came from the tombs to meet him.

³This man lived in the tombs, and no one was able to bind him anymore, not even with chains.

⁴He 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.

⁵Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

⁶When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees before him.

⁷He 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!"

⁸For Jesus had said to him, "Come out of this man, you unclean spirit!"

⁹Then Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" He replied, "My name is Legion, for we are many."

¹⁰The spirits begged Jesus repeatedly not to send them out of the region.

¹¹A large herd of pigs was feeding on the hillside nearby.

¹²The demons begged Jesus, "Send us into the pigs so we can go into them."

¹³Jesus gave them permission, and the unclean spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd — about two thousand in number — rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned.

¹⁴Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people came out to see what had happened.

¹⁵When 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.

¹⁶Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man — and told about the pigs as well.

¹⁷Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.

¹⁸As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him.

¹⁹Jesus 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."

²⁰So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

²¹When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the sea.

²²Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet.

²³He pleaded earnestly with him, "My little daughter is dying. Please come and lay your hands on her so that she will be healed and live."

²⁴So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around him.

²⁵A woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years

²⁶had suffered greatly under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse.

²⁷When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak,

²⁸because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed."

²⁹Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

³⁰At once Jesus knew 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?'"

³²But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it.

³³Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth.

³⁴He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."

³⁵While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus. "Your daughter is dead," they said. "Why bother the Teacher anymore?"

³⁶Overhearing what they said, Jesus told the synagogue leader, "Don't be afraid; just believe."

³⁷He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James.

³⁸When they came to the house of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly.

³⁹He went in and said to them, "Why all this commotion and crying? The child is not dead but asleep."

⁴⁰But 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.

⁴¹He took her by the hand and said to her, "Talitha cumi," which means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!"

⁴²Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around. She was twelve years old. At this they were completely astonished.

⁴³He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.