1 Then Jesus and his followers went to the other side of the lake, to the country called Gerasene.

2-5 There was a man there that had a bad spirit in him. He was like a crazy man. He camped in the cemetery there.

Before Jesus came to that place, that man walked around in the cemetery, and all over the hills there, and he yelled out and screamed all the time. He did that in the day time and also at night time. And he cut himself with stones. People couldn’t tie him up, not even with chains. They tried to do that lots of times. They tied up his hands and his feet, but it was no good. He was too strong. He just broke those chains every time. Nobody was strong enough to hold him or make him sit down quiet.

When Jesus got out of the boat, 6 that crazy man saw him from a long way off. He ran right up to Jesus. The spirit in him knew that Jesus was stronger than him, so he got down on his knees in front of Jesus.

7-8 Jesus said to the bad spirit, “Come out of this man.”

But the spirit in him made him yell at Jesus, “Why did you come here? I know you. You are Jesus. You are the son of God. He is the big boss over everything. Promise me truly that you will not hurt me.”

9 Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

He said, “Our name is Big Mob. You see, we are a mob of bad spirits inside this man. 10 Please don’t send us away from this country.”

11 There were about 2,000 pigs feeding themselves on the hill nearby. 12 The bad spirits asked Jesus, “Can we go into that big mob of pigs over there?”

13 So Jesus sent those bad spirits out of the man and let them go into the pigs. Then those pigs went crazy, and they ran down the steep hill into the lake, and they drowned themselves in the water.

14 The men that looked after the pigs were frightened, and they ran back to their town, and they told everyone what happened. They told that story to the people in the town, and they told it to the people that lived outside of the town too. A lot of people wanted to see what happened, 15 so they ran out to that place where Jesus was. They saw that man sitting down quiet and wearing clothes. He wasn’t crazy any more. Then those people got frightened. 16 The men that looked after the pigs told them the story about the man and the pigs. 17 Then all that mob started to ask Jesus strongly to go away from their country and leave them alone.

18 Jesus listened to them, and he started to get into the boat. Then the man that used to have the bad spirits in him, asked Jesus, “Please, can I come with you?”

19 Jesus said, “No, I want you to go back to your family, and to your own mob. I want you to tell everybody about the good things God did for you. Tell them that God felt sorry for you, and he was really good to you.”

20 Then that man went all over that country called Ten Towns, and he told everybody that story. He told them all about the good things Jesus did for him. Everybody that heard him was really surprised.

21 Jesus and his followers got back into the boat and went to the other side of the lake. A really big mob of people were waiting for them there, beside the water.

22 There was a Jewish meeting house near there. One of the bosses of that meeting house saw Jesus and went up to him, and he got down on his knees in front of Jesus, to show him respect. That man’s name was Jairus. 23 He strongly asked Jesus to help his daughter. He said, “My little girl is really sick, and I think she will die. Please come and put your hands on her. I know that you can make her better, so that she will not die.”

24 Jesus listened to the man and started to go with him. The big mob of people followed them. They went up really close and pushed up against Jesus, all around him.

25 While they were walking along, a sick woman was there. A long time before this, she started bleeding, and that bleeding didn’t stop. 26 She went to every doctor, but none of them could help her. She spent all her money trying to get better, but it was no good, she only got worse. She kept on bleeding for 12 years. 27-28 Then somebody told her about Jesus, and she thought to herself, “If I can just touch his coat, I will get better.” So she came up behind Jesus, and she touched his coat. 29 And straight away, her bleeding stopped. She knew she was better.

30 Jesus knew straight away that power went out from him, so he stopped walking, turned around, and asked the people, “Who touched my clothes?”

31 Jesus’s followers said, “There are big mobs of people here pushing up against you. Why do you ask, ‘Who touched me?’ Lots of people touched you.”

32 Jesus kept on looking around to see the person that used his power. 33 That woman knew that she was the person that got better, so she was very frightened, and she was shaking. She came to Jesus, and she got down on her knees in front of him, to show him respect, and she told him her story. She told him that she touched him. 34 Jesus said to her, “My friend, you really believed in me, so now you are better. You can go home, and you will not have any more trouble. You are not sick any more.”

35 While Jesus was talking to the woman, a man from Jairus’s house came to him with bad news. He said, “I’m sorry, it’s too late. Your little girl is dead. Don’t bother Jesus now.”

36 Jesus heard the man’s words, but he took no notice of them. He said to Jairus, “Don’t be frightened. Just trust me.” 37 Then Jesus told the people, “Don’t come with me to this man’s house.” He only let a few people go with him. They were the girl’s mother and father, and 3 of his special workers, Peter, James and John. They were the only people that went with him.

38 They got close to the house, and Jesus heard other people inside it making a big noise. They were crying for that dead girl and shouting out loud. 39 Jesus went into the house, and he asked them, “Why are you making all this noise? That little girl isn’t dead. She is just sleeping.”

40 But they just laughed at Jesus. So he told them all to get out of the house. Then Jesus said to the girl’s mother and father, and to his 3 followers, “You come with me.” Then they went together into the room where the girl lay.

41 Jesus held the girl’s hand and talked to her in their language. He said, “Talitha koum.” That means, Get up, little girl. 42 Straight away, that girl got up and walked around the room. Her mother and father were really surprised. Their little girl was alive again. She was 12 years old at that time.

43 Jesus told them strongly, “Don’t tell anyone that I made this little girl alive again.” Then he said to them, “Now give her some food to eat.”

<- Mark 4Mark 6 ->