Mark 5

1Jesus and His disciples came to the other side of the lake, to the area of the Gerasenes.

2As soon as Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came out from the tombs to meet Him.

3This man lived among the tombs. No one could tie him up anymore, not even with chains.

4Many times his hands and feet had been tied with chains, but he broke the chains and smashed the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to control him.

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

6When the man saw Jesus far away, he ran and bowed down in front of Him.

7He shouted with a loud voice: What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Promise God that You will not hurt me!

8He said this because Jesus had said to him: Come out of this man, you evil spirit!

9Then Jesus asked him: What is your name? The man answered: My name is Legion, because there are many of us.

10And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of that area.

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

12The evil spirits begged Jesus: Send us to the pigs. Let us go into them.

13Jesus allowed them. So the evil spirits came out of the man and went into the pigs. The whole herd — about two thousand pigs — rushed down the steep hill into the lake and drowned.

14The men who took care of the pigs ran away. They told the news in the town and in the countryside, and the people came to see what had happened.

15They came to Jesus and saw the man who had been controlled by the demons. He was sitting there, dressed and in his right mind. And the people were afraid.

16The ones who had seen it told the others what had happened to the man and to the pigs.

17Then the people began to beg Jesus to leave their area.

18As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been set free begged to go with Him.

19But Jesus would not let him. He said: Go home to your family, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how kind He has been to you.

20So the man went away and began to tell everyone in the Ten Towns how much Jesus had done for him. And everyone was amazed.

21Jesus went back across the lake in the boat. A large crowd gathered around Him by the shore.

22A leader of the synagogue named Jairus came there. When he saw Jesus, he fell at His feet.

23He begged Jesus again and again: My little daughter is dying. Please come and put Your hands on her, so she will be healed and live.

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

25A woman was there who had been bleeding for twelve years.

26She had suffered very much under the care of many doctors. She had spent all her money, but she was not better. Instead, she was getting worse.

27She had heard about Jesus. So she came up behind Him in the crowd and touched His coat.

28She thought: If I can just touch His clothes, I will be healed.

29As soon as she touched Him, her bleeding stopped. She could feel in her body that she was healed.

30At once Jesus knew that power had gone out of Him. He turned around in the crowd and asked: Who touched my clothes?

31His disciples said: You can see the crowd pushing against you. Why do you ask who touched You?

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

33Then the woman, shaking with fear, came and fell down in front of Jesus. She knew what had happened to her, and she told Him the whole truth.

34Jesus said to her: Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace. You are free from your suffering.

35While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. They said: Your daughter is dead. Why bother the Teacher anymore?

36But Jesus paid no attention to what they said. He told Jairus: Do not be afraid. Just believe.

37Jesus let no one go with Him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James.

38They came to the house of the synagogue leader. Jesus saw the people crying loudly and very upset.

39He went inside and said to them: Why all this crying and noise? The child is not dead. She is only sleeping.

40But the people laughed at Him. So Jesus sent them all outside. He took the child's father and mother and His three disciples, and went in to where the child was.

41He took her by the hand and said to her: Talitha koum! This means: Little girl, I say to you, get up!

42At once the girl stood up and walked around. She was twelve years old. The people were completely amazed.

43Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell anyone about it. Then He told them to give her something to eat.