The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 And they came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes.
1
Jesus and his disciples arrived on the other side of Lake Galilee, in the territory of Gerasa.
2 And when he had got out of the boat, straight away there came to him from the place of the dead a man with an unclean spirit.
2
As soon as Jesus got out of the boat, he was met by a man who came out of the burial caves there. This man had an evil spirit in him
3 He was living in the place of the dead: and no man was able to keep him down, no, not with a chain;
3
and lived among the tombs. Nobody could keep him tied with chains any more;
4 Because he had frequently been prisoned in chains and iron bands, and the chains had been parted and the bands broken by him: and no man was strong enough to make him quiet.
4
many times his feet and his hands had been tied, but every time he broke the chains and smashed the irons on his feet. He was too strong for anyone to control him.
5 And all the time, by day and by night, in the place of the dead, and in the mountains, he was crying out and cutting himself with stones.
5
Day and night he wandered among the tombs and through the hills, screaming and cutting himself with stones.
6 And when he saw Jesus from far off, he went quickly to him and gave him worship;
6
He was some distance away when he saw Jesus; so he ran, fell on his knees before him,
7 And crying out with a loud voice he said, What have I to do with you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God's name, do not be cruel to me.
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and screamed in a loud voice, "Jesus, Son of the Most High God! What do you want with me? For God's sake, I beg you, don't punish me!
8 For Jesus had said to him, Come out of the man, you unclean spirit.
8
(He said this because Jesus was saying, "Evil spirit, come out of this man!")
9 And Jesus said, What is your name? And he made answer, My name is Legion, because there are a great number of us.
9
So Jesus asked him, "What is your name!" The man answered, "My name is "Mob' - there are so many of us!"
10 And he made strong prayers to him not to send them away out of the country.
10
And he kept begging Jesus not to send the evil spirits out of that region.
11 Now on the mountain side there was a great herd of pigs getting their food.
11
There was a large herd of pigs near by, feeding on a hillside.
12 And they said to him, Send us into the pigs, so that we may go into them.
12
So the spirits begged Jesus, "Send us to the pigs, and let us go into them."
13 And he let them do it. And the unclean spirits came out and went into the pigs; and the herd went rushing down a sharp slope into the sea, about two thousand of them; and they came to their death in the sea.
13
He let them go, and the evil spirits went out of the man and entered the pigs. The whole herd - about two thousand pigs in all - rushed down the side of the cliff into the lake and was drowned.
14 And their keepers went running and gave an account of it in the town and in the country. And people came to see what had taken place.
14
The men who had been taking care of the pigs ran away and spread the news in the town and among the farms. People went out to see what had happened,
15 And they came to Jesus, and saw the man in whom had been the evil spirits seated, clothed and with full use of his senses, and they were full of fear.
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and when they came to Jesus, they saw the man who used to have the mob of demons in him. He was sitting there, clothed and in his right mind; and they were all afraid.
16 And those who had seen it gave them an account of what had been done to him who had the evil spirits, and of the fate of the pigs.
16
Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the man with the demons, and about the pigs.
17 And they made a request to him to go out of their country.
17
So they asked Jesus to leave their territory.
18 And when he was getting into the boat, the man in whom had been the evil spirits had a great desire to come with him.
18
As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had had the demons begged him, "Let me go with you!"
19 And he would not let him, but said to him, Go to your house, to your friends, and give them news of the great things the Lord has done for you, and how he had mercy on you.
19
But Jesus would not let him. Instead, he told him, "Go back home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how kind he has been to you."
20 And he went on his way, and made public in the country of Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him: and all men were full of wonder.
20
So the man left and went all through the Ten Towns, telling what Jesus had done for him. And all who heard it were amazed.
21 And when Jesus had gone over again in the boat to the other side, a great number of people came to him: and he was by the sea.
21
Jesus went back across to the other side of the lake. There at the lakeside a large crowd gathered around him.
22 And one of the rulers of the Synagogue, Jairus by name, came, and seeing him, went down at his feet,
22
Jairus, an official of the local synagogue, arrived, and when he saw Jesus, he threw himself down at his feet
23 And made strong prayers to him, saying, My little daughter is near to death: it is my prayer that you will come and put your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and have life.
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and begged him earnestly, "My little daughter is very sick. Please come and place your hands on her, so that she will get well and live!"
24 And he went with him; and a great number of people went after him, and came round him.
24
Then Jesus started off with him. So many people were going along with Jesus that they were crowding him from every side.
25 And a woman, who had had a flow of blood for twelve years,
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There was a woman who had suffered terribly from severe bleeding for twelve years,
26 And had undergone much at the hands of a number of medical men, and had given all she had, and was no better, but even worse,
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even though she had been treated by many doctors. She had spent all her money, but instead of getting better she got worse all the time.
27 When she had news of the things which Jesus did, went among the people coming after him, and put her hand on his robe.
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She had heard about Jesus, so she came in the crowd behind him,
28 For she said, If I may only put my hand on his robe, I will be made well.
28
saying to herself, "If I just touch his clothes, I will get well."
29 And straight away the fountain of her blood was stopped, and she had a feeling in her body that her disease had gone and she was well.
29
She touched his cloak, and her bleeding stopped at once; and she had the feeling inside herself that she was healed of her trouble.
30 And straight away Jesus was conscious that power had gone out of him; and, turning to the people, he said, Who was touching my robe?
30
At once Jesus knew that power had gone out of him, so he turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?"
31 And his disciples said to him, You see the people round you on every side, and you say, Who was touching me?
31
His disciples answered, "You see how the people are crowding you; why do you ask who touched you?"
32 And on his looking round to see her who had done this thing,
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But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it.
33 The woman, shaking with fear, conscious of what had been done to her, came and, falling on her face before him, gave him a true account of everything.
33
The woman realized what had happened to her, so she came, trembling with fear, knelt at his feet, and told him the whole truth.
34 And he said to her, Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be free from your disease.
34
Jesus said to her, "My daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your trouble."
35 And while he was still talking, they came from the ruler of the Synagogue's house, saying, Your daughter is dead: why are you still troubling the Master?
35
While Jesus was saying this, some messengers came from Jairus' house and told him, "Your daughter has died. Why bother the Teacher any longer?"
36 But Jesus, giving no attention to their words, said to the ruler of the Synagogue, Have no fear, only have faith.
36
Jesus paid no attention to what they said, but told him, "Don't be afraid, only believe."
37 And he did not let anyone come with him, but Peter and James and John, the brother of James.
37
Then he did not let anyone else go on with him except Peter and James and his brother John.
38 And they came to the house of the ruler of the Synagogue; and he saw people running this way and that, and weeping and crying loudly.
38
They arrived at Jairus' house, where Jesus saw the confusion and heard all the loud crying and wailing.
39 And when he had gone in, he said to them, Why are you making such a noise and weeping? The child is not dead, but sleeping.
39
He went in and said to them, "Why all this confusion? Why are you crying? The child is not dead - she is only sleeping!"
40 And they were laughing at him. But he, having sent them all out, took the father of the child and her mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was.
40
They started making fun of him, so he put them all out, took the child's father and mother and his three disciples, and went into the room where the child was lying.
41 And taking her by the hand, he said to her, Talitha cumi, which is, My child, I say to you, Get up.
41
He took her by the hand and said to her, ["Talitha, koum,"] which means, "Little girl, I tell you to get up!"
42 And the young girl got up straight away, and was walking about; she being twelve years old. And they were overcome with wonder.
42
She got up at once and started walking around. (She was twelve years old.) When this happened, they were completely amazed.
43 And he gave them special orders that they were not to say anything of this; and he said that some food was to be given to her.
43
But Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell anyone, and he said, "Give her something to eat."
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.