Jesus Heals a Demon-Possessed Man

Jesus and his disciples took a boat to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes, who were not Jews.

As soon as Jesus stepped out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came running up to him.

This man was so strong that nobody could hold him down. People had even used chains to try, but he just kept breaking them.

He lived among the tombs in the area. Day and night this man would cry out. He wore no clothes and also cut himself repeatedly with stones.

When the man saw Jesus in the distance, he ran up to him and fell down kneeling in front of him. Jesus said, “Come out of the man, you evil spirit!”

The man with the evil spirit cried out in a loud voice and said, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Please do not torment me!" Then Jesus asked the man "What is your name?" He replied, "My name is Legion, for we are many."

The evil spirits begged Jesus, "Please don't send us out of this area!" There was a herd of pigs that were feeding on a nearby hillside. So, the evil spirits asked Jesus, "Please send us into the pigs instead!" Jesus said, "Go!"

The evil spirits came out of the man and entered the pigs. The pigs ran down a steep bank into the sea and drowned. There were about two thousand pigs in the herd.

When the people taking care of the pigs saw what happened, they ran and told everyone what Jesus had done. All the people came from the town, and there was the man who used to have the evil spirits, sitting down, wearing clothes, and acting normally. This scared them.

The people asked Jesus to leave right away. They were scared of the power that Jesus had shown. So, Jesus got into the boat and prepared to leave. The man who had been healed begged to go along with Jesus.

But Jesus said to him, "Go home and tell your friends and family how much God has done for you and how He has had mercy on you."

So the man then went away and began to tell everybody about what Jesus had done for him. Everyone who heard his story was filled with wonder and amazement.