Mark 5

1They reached the far side of the lake, the country of the Gerasenes. 2As soon as he stepped out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came out from the tombs to meet him. 3This man lived among the tombs, and nobody could keep him tied up anymore, not even with a chain. 4Time and again he had been bound hand and foot with irons and chains, but he had pulled the chains apart and smashed the irons on his feet. No one had the strength to control him. 5Night and day, without stopping, he would scream among the tombs and on the hills and slash himself with stones. 6When he caught sight of Jesus a long way off, he ran up and threw himself down in front of him. 7He gave a loud shriek: “Jesus, Son of the Most High God, what have you to do with me? I beg you, with God as witness, do not torture me!” 8This was because Jesus had been telling it, “Unclean spirit, come out of this man!” 9Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He answered, “My name is Legion, since there are many of us.” 10He kept pleading with Jesus not to send them away out of that country. 11A large herd of pigs happened to be grazing on the hillside nearby. 12The spirits pleaded with him, “Send us over to the pigs. Let us go into them.” 13He gave them leave. Out came the unclean spirits, and they went into the pigs. The whole herd, about 2,000 animals, stampeded down the steep slope into the lake and drowned there.

14The men tending the pigs ran off and spread the news in the town and on the farms, and people came out to see what had taken place. 15When they reached Jesus, they found the man the demons had held sitting there with clothes on and in his right mind, the very man who had been held by the legion. And they were afraid. 16Those who had seen it all told them what had happened to the man with the demons, and about the pigs too. 17Then they started pleading with Jesus to go away from their district. 18As Jesus stepped into the boat, the man freed from the demons pleaded to go along with him. 19But Jesus would not let him, and told him instead, “Go home to your own people, and let them know all that the Lord has done for you, and the mercy he has shown you.” 20So he went off and started to tell all through the Decapolis the great things Jesus had done for him. Everyone who heard was astonished.

21When Jesus had gone back across by boat, a large crowd gathered around him while he was still by the lake. 22One of the leaders of the synagogue, a man named Jairus, came up. When he saw Jesus, he threw himself at his feet 23and pleaded with him again and again. “My little daughter is dying,” he said. “Please come and put your hands on her, so that she may get well and live.” 24So Jesus set out with him. A huge crowd went along behind him, jostling him on every side. 25In the crowd was a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. 26She had gone through a great deal at the hands of many doctors and had spent everything she owned. Instead of getting better, she had only grown worse. 27She had heard about Jesus, so she made her way through the crowd and touched his cloak from behind. 28She kept telling herself, “Even if all I touch is his clothes, I will be made well.” 29At once her bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she was free of her suffering. 30Right away Jesus knew within himself that power had gone out of him. He turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?” 31His disciples said to him, “You can see how the crowd is crushing in on you. How can you ask, ‘Who touched me?’” 32But Jesus went on searching the faces around him for the one who had done it. 33Then the woman, afraid and shaking, knowing what had been done for her, came forward, dropped down before him, and told him the whole truth. 34“Daughter,” he told her, “your faith has saved you and made you well. Go in peace, free of your suffering.”

35While Jesus was still talking, some people arrived from the synagogue leader’s house. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “There is no need to bother the teacher any more.” 36But Jesus paid no attention to what they said and told the synagogue leader, “Do not be afraid. Just believe.” 37He would not let anyone come with him except Peter, James, and James’s brother John. 38When they reached the synagogue leader’s house, Jesus saw an uproar, with people crying and howling in grief. 39He went in and asked them, “Why all this noise and crying? The child is not dead. She is asleep.” 40They laughed at him. But Jesus sent them all outside. Then he took the disciples who were with him and the child’s father and mother, and went into the room where the girl lay. 41He took the child by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means, “Little girl, I tell you, get up.” 42At once the girl stood up and walked about, for she was twelve years old. Everyone was astounded on the spot. 43Jesus gave them strict orders not to let anyone find out about this, and said she should be given food.