Mark 5:11-22

¹¹A large herd of pigs was feeding on the hillside nearby.

¹²The evil spirits pleaded with him, “Send us into the pigs so we can enter them.”

¹³Jesus allowed them to do this. The evil spirits left the man and went into the pigs. The whole herd, about two thousand, rushed down the steep cliff into the sea and drowned.

¹⁴The pig-keepers ran away, and spread the news all over town and in the countryside. People came out to see what had happened.

¹⁵When they found Jesus they saw the man who had been demon-possessed sitting there, dressed, and in his right mind—the one who had the legion of evil spirits—and they became frightened!

¹⁶Then those who had seen what had happened to the man who had been demon-possessed and the pigs told the others.

¹⁷They began pleading with Jesus to leave their district.

¹⁸As Jesus climbed into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him.

¹⁹But Jesus refused, telling him, “Go home to your own people, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has been merciful to you.”

²⁰So the man went on his way and began to tell the people of the Ten Cities everything Jesus had done for him, and everyone was amazed.

²¹Jesus went back again by boat to the other side of the lake where a large crowd gathered around him at the shore.

²²A synagogue leader, a man named Jairus, came to him. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet