Chapter 5

1Jesus and his disciples came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gerasenes.

2As soon as Jesus stepped out of the boat, a man controlled by an evil spirit came from among the tombs and met him.

3The man lived among the tombs. No one could restrain him anymore, not even with a chain.

4People had often bound his feet with shackles and secured him with chains, but he tore the chains apart and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to bring him under control.

5Night and day, he wandered among the tombs and through the hills, screaming and cutting himself with stones.

6When he saw Jesus from far away, he ran to him and bowed down before him.

7The evil spirit shouted loudly through the man, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you before God: do not torture me!”

8It said this because Jesus had been telling it, “Evil spirit, come out of this man!”

9Jesus asked, “What is your name?” The spirit answered, “My name is Legion—an enormous army unit—because there are many of us.”

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

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

12The spirits begged Jesus, “Send us into the pigs so that we can enter them.”

13Jesus allowed them to do so. The evil spirits came out of the man and entered the pigs. The herd of about two thousand pigs rushed down the steep slope into the sea and drowned.

14The people tending the pigs ran away and reported what had happened in the town and throughout the countryside. People came to see what had happened.

15They came to Jesus and saw the man whom the Legion of demons had controlled. He was sitting there, clothed and thinking clearly. The people became afraid.

16Those who had seen everything explained what had happened to the man and to the pigs.

17Then the people began begging Jesus to leave their region.

18As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been controlled by the demons begged to go with him.

19Jesus did not let him. Instead, he said, “Go home to your own people. Tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how he has shown you compassion.”

20The man left and began telling people throughout the Decapolis, the region known as the Ten Cities, everything Jesus had done for him. Everyone was amazed.

21Jesus crossed back to the other side in the boat. While he was beside the sea, a large crowd gathered around him.

22Jairus, one of the officials who led a synagogue—a Jewish place for worship and teaching—came to Jesus. When Jairus saw him, he fell at his feet.

23Jairus pleaded urgently, “My little daughter is about to die. Please come and place your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.”

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

25A woman in the crowd had suffered from constant bleeding for twelve years.

26She had suffered greatly under the care of many doctors and had spent everything she owned. Nothing had helped; instead, she had grown worse.

27After hearing about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his clothing.

28She had been telling herself, “If I touch even his clothes, I will be healed.”

29Her bleeding stopped immediately, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed from her painful illness.

30Jesus immediately realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

31His disciples replied, “You see this crowd pressing against you, yet you ask, ‘Who touched me?’”

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

33The woman knew what had happened to her. Frightened and trembling, she came and fell before Jesus, then told him the whole truth.

34Jesus said to her, “Daughter, your trust has made you well. Go in peace. You are free from the illness that made you suffer.”

35While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the synagogue leader’s household. They told Jairus, “Your daughter has died. Why bother the teacher any longer?”

36But Jesus overheard what they said and told Jairus, “Do not be afraid. Just keep trusting.”

37Jesus did not allow anyone to accompany him except Peter, James, and James’s brother John.

38They came to Jairus’s house. Jesus saw a noisy disturbance, with people weeping and wailing loudly.

39Jesus went inside and asked them, “Why are you making such a disturbance and weeping? The child has not died but is sleeping.”

40They laughed at him. Jesus put everyone outside. Then he took the child’s father and mother and the three disciples with him into the room where the child was.

41Taking the child by the hand, Jesus said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means, “Little girl, I tell you, get up.”

42The girl immediately stood up and began walking around. She was twelve years old. At once, everyone there was overwhelmed with amazement.

43Jesus gave them strict orders not to let anyone know about this. Then he told them to give the girl something to eat.