Mark 5:1-20

The Gerasene Demoniac

1 ¹They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes.

2 When He got out of ²the boat, immediately a man from the tombs ³with an unclean spirit met Him,

3 and he had his dwelling among the tombs. And no * one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain;

4 because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him.

5 Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones.

6 Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him;

7 and shouting with a loud voice, he said, "⁴What business do we have with each other, Jesus, ⁵Son of ⁶the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!"

8 For He had been saying to him, "Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!"

9 And He was asking him, "What is your name?" And he said to Him, "My name is ⁷Legion; for we are many."

10 And he began to implore Him earnestly not to send them out of the country.

11 Now there was a large herd of swine feeding nearby on the mountain.

12 The demons implored Him, saying, "Send us into the swine so that we may enter them."

13 Jesus gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two thousand of them; and they were drowned in the sea.

14 Their herdsmen ran away and reported it in the city and in the country. And the people came to see what it was that had happened.

15 They came to Jesus and observed the man who had been ⁸demon-possessed sitting down, ⁹clothed and ¹⁰in his right mind, the very man who had had the "¹¹legion "; and they became frightened.

16 Those who had seen it described to them how it had happened to the ¹²demon-possessed man, and all about the swine.

17 And they began to ¹³implore Him to leave their region.

18 ¹⁴As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been ¹⁵demon-possessed was imploring Him that he might accompany * Him.

19 And He did not let him, but He said to him, "¹⁶Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you."

20 And he went away and began to ¹⁷proclaim in ¹⁸Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.

Cross References

• 1. Mark 5:1-17: {Matthew 8:28-34; Luke 8:26-37}
• 2. Mark 3:9; Mark 4:1, 36; Mark 5:21
• 3. Mark 1:23
• 4. Matthew 8:29
• 5. Matthew 4:3
• 6. Luke 8:28; Acts 16:17; Hebrews 7:1
• 7. Matthew 26:53; Mark 5:15; Luke 8:30
• 8. Matthew 4:24; Mark 5:16, 18
• 9. Luke 8:27
• 10. Luke 8:35
• 11. Mark 5:9
• 12. Matthew 4:24; Mark 5:15
• 13. Matthew 8:34; Acts 16:39
• 14. Mark 5:18-20: {Luke 8:38, 39}
• 15. Matthew 4:24; Mark 5:15, 16
• 16. Luke 8:39
• 17. Psalms 66:16
• 18. Matthew 4:25; Mark 7:31

Footnotes

• [a] Lit "What to me and to you" (a Heb idiom)
• [b] Lit "there"
• [c] Lit "be with Him"
• [d] Or "everything that"
• [e] Or "everything that"