Luke 8:14-36

¹⁴Some people are like the soil that had roots of thorny weeds in it. They are people who accept God's message, but later on they worry about things, and try to become rich, and enjoy things that give them a lot of pleasure. So they do not become spiritually mature.

¹⁵But some people are like the good soil. They hear God's message and accept it. They become good, honest people, and they continue doing things that please God MET.”

¹⁶“After people light a lamp, they do not cover it with a basket or put it under a bed. Instead, they put it on a lampstand, so that those who enter their house can see things from its light MET. Similarly, you must tell God's truth to others so that they can know what I can do for them.

¹⁷God wants to make clear all of his truth that was not evident previously. He intends that all of the truth that he had not revealed before be told openly {that his people openly tell others all of the truth that he has not revealed before}.

¹⁸So listen carefully to what I tell you, because God will enable those who accept my truth to understand even more. But God will cause those who do not accept my truth to not understand even the little that they think they have understood.”

¹⁹One day Jesus' mother and his younger brothers came to see him, but they could not get near him because there was a large crowd around him in the house.

²⁰Someone told him, “Your mother and your younger brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.”

²¹He replied, “Those who hear God's message and obey it are as dear to me MET as my mother and my brothers.”

²²One day Jesus got into a boat with his disciples. He said to them, “Let's go around to the other side of the lake.” So they started to go.

²³As they were sailing, he fell asleep. A big windstorm struck the lake. Soon the boat was filling with water, and they were in danger.

²⁴Jesus' disciples woke him up. They said to him, “Master! Master! We (inc) are going to drown!” He got up and rebuked the wind and told the waves to be calm. The wind immediately stopped blowing and the waves calmed down. The lake became calm.

²⁵He said to them, “◄I am disappointed that you did not trust me to help you!/Why did you not trust me to help you?►” RHQ They were afraid. They were also amazed. They said to each other, “◄What kind of man is this?/This man is not like ordinary men!► RHQ He not only commands people, but when he commands the wind and the water, they also obey him!”

²⁶Jesus and his disciples arrived at the region near Gerasa, a town which was on the eastern side of Lake Galilee.

²⁷There was a man in that region in whom demons lived. He was from the town of Gerasa. (OR, In that area there was a man from that town whom demons controlled.) For a long time he had not worn clothes. He did not live in a house. Instead, he lived in burial caves.

²⁸Many times demons attacked him. He was guarded { People tried to guard him} so that he would not injure others. Chains were fastened {They fastened chains} on his hands and shackles on his feet, but he would break the chains and shackles. Then he would be sent away by the demons {the demons would send him away} to some desolate area. When Jesus stepped out of the boat onto the shore, the man saw him. He ran to Jesus and prostrated himself before him. Then Jesus commanded, “You evil spirit, come out of that man!” But it did not leave immediately. Instead, it caused the man to shout very loudly, “Jesus, Son of the great God in heaven, since we (inc) have nothing in common, leave me alone RHQ! I beg you, do not torture me now!”

³⁰In order to expel the demon more easily, Jesus asked the demon, “What is your (sg) name?” He replied, “My name is Crowd/Mob.” He said that because many demons had entered that man.

³¹The demons kept begging Jesus that he would not command them to go into the deep place where God punishes demons.

³²There was a large herd of pigs ◄grazing/rooting for food► on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus that he allow them to enter the pigs. So he did.

³³The demons left the man and entered the pigs. Then the herd of pigs rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned.

³⁴When the men who were taking care of the pigs saw what happened, they ran! They told people inside the town and outside the town what had happened.

³⁵So people went out to see what had happened. When they came to where Jesus was, they saw that the man from whom Jesus had expelled the demons was sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to him. He had clothes on, and his mind was normal again. Then those people became afraid because they thought that Jesus would destroy more of their property (OR, because they realized that he must be very powerful).

³⁶The people who had seen what happened told those who had just arrived how Jesus had healed the man whom demons were controlling before.