Helpfinder Sampler - Flipbook - Page 44
MAR K 5
“Who is this man?” they asked each other.
“Even the wind and waves obey him!”
Jesus Heals a Demon-Possessed Man
So they arrived at the other side of the lake,
in the region of the Gerasenes.* 2 When
Jesus climbed out of the boat, a man possessed
by an evil* spirit came out from the tombs to
meet him. 3 This man lived in the burial caves
and could no longer be restrained, even with
a chain. 4 Whenever he was put into chains
and shackles—as he often was—he snapped
the chains from his wrists and smashed the
shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue
him. 5 Day and night he wandered among the
burial caves and in the hills, howling and cutting himself with sharp stones.
6 When Jesus was still some distance away,
the man saw him, ran to meet him, and bowed
low before him. 7 With a shriek, he screamed,
“Why are you interfering with me, Jesus, Son of
the Most High God? In the name of God, I beg
you, don’t torture me!” 8 For Jesus had already
said to the spirit, “Come out of the man, you
evil spirit.”
9 Then Jesus demanded, “What is your name?”
And he replied, “My name is Legion, because
there are many of us inside this man.” 10 Then
the evil spirits begged him again and again not
to send them to some distant place.
11 There happened to be a large herd of pigs
feeding on the hillside nearby. 12 “Send us into
those pigs,” the spirits begged. “Let us enter
them.”
13 So Jesus gave them permission. The evil
spirits came out of the man and entered the
pigs, and the entire herd of about 2,000 pigs
plunged down the steep hillside into the lake
and drowned in the water.
14 The herdsmen fled to the nearby town and
the surrounding countryside, spreading the
news as they ran. People rushed out to see what
had happened. 15 A crowd soon gathered around
Jesus, and they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons. He was sitting
there fully clothed and perfectly sane, and they
were all afraid. 16 Then those who had seen what
happened told the others about the demonpossessed man and the pigs. 17 And the crowd
began pleading with Jesus to go away and leave
them alone.
18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man
who had been demon possessed begged to go
with him. 19 But Jesus said, “No, go home to your
family, and tell them everything the Lord has
done for you and how merciful he has been.”
20 So the man started off to visit the Ten Towns*
of that region and began to proclaim the great
things Jesus had done for him; and everyone
was amazed at what he told them.
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Jesus Heals in Response to Faith
21 Jesus got into the boat again and went back to
the other side of the lake, where a large crowd
gathered around him on the shore. 22 Then a
leader of the local synagogue, whose name was
Jairus, arrived. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his
feet, 23 pleading fervently with him. “My little
daughter is dying,” he said. “Please come and
lay your hands on her; heal her so she can live.”
24 Jesus went with him, and all the people
followed, crowding around him. 25 A woman in
the crowd had suffered for twelve years with
constant bleeding. 26 She had suffered a great
deal from many doctors, and over the years she
had spent everything she had to pay them, but
she had gotten no better. In fact, she had gotten worse. 27 She had heard about Jesus, so she
came up behind him through the crowd and
touched his robe. 28 For she thought to herself,
“If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.”
29 Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she
could feel in her body that she had been healed
of her terrible condition.
30 Jesus realized at once that healing power
had gone out from him, so he turned around in
the crowd and asked, “Who touched my robe?”
31 His disciples said to him, “Look at this
crowd pressing around you. How can you ask,
‘Who touched me?’”
32 But he kept on looking around to see who
had done it. 33 Then the frightened woman,
trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front
of him and told him what she had done. 34 And
he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made
you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.”
35 While he was still speaking to her, messengers arrived from the home of Jairus, the
leader of the synagogue. They told him, “Your
daughter is dead. There’s no use troubling the
Teacher now.”
36 But Jesus overheard* them and said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.”
37 Then Jesus stopped the crowd and wouldn’t
let anyone go with him except Peter, James, and
John (the brother of James). 38 When they came
to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw
much commotion and weeping and wailing.
39 He went inside and asked, “Why all this commotion and weeping? The child isn’t dead; she’s
only asleep.”
40 The crowd laughed at him. But he made
them all leave, and he took the girl’s father and
mother and his three disciples into the room
where the girl was lying. 41 Holding her hand,
he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means
“Little girl, get up!” 42 And the girl, who was
twelve years old, immediately stood up and
5:1 Other manuscripts read Gadarenes; still others read
Gergesenes. See Matt 8:28; Luke 8:26. 5:2 Greek unclean;
also in 5:8, 13. 5:20 Greek Decapolis. 5:36 Or ignored.
