Mark 5
1 They came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gerasenes. 2 Straightaway after Jesus got out of the boat, a person from among the tombs with an unclean spirit-breath confronted him. 3 He had his home among the tombs. No one could tie him up anymore, not even with chains, 4 because he had often been tied up with chains and shackles, and the chains had been torn apart, and the shackles been broken to pieces by him. No one was strong enough to restrain him. 5 All night and day, he would cry out and hack at himself with stones among the tombs and in the mountains. 6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down to him.
7 He cried out with a loud voice, “What is there between me and you, Jesus, Son of the Highest God? Please, swear to me by God that you won’t torture me! 8 (You see, Jesus had said to him, “Get out of this person, unclean spirit-breath!”)
9 Jesus demanded of him, “What is your name?”
“My name is Legion,” he said, “because we are many.” 10 He begged Jesus many times not to send them out of the region.
11 There on the hillside was a large herd of pigs being fed. 12 He begged Jesus, “Send us to the pigs, so we can go in among them,” 13 and Jesus gave them permission. After getting out, the unclean spirit-breaths went in among the pigs, and the herd suddenly rushed down the slope into the sea, and all-in-all about 2,000 were drowned in the sea.
14 The people who had been feeding them ran away and spread the news in the town and the surrounding countryside, and people came to see what had happened. 15 They came to Jesus and saw the person who had been haunted by demonsa sitting there, clothed and in his right mind—the person who had the “Legion”—and they were afraid. 16 The people who had seen what had happened with the person who had been haunted by demons told them about it and about the pigs. 17 They began to beg Jesus to go away from their area.
18 As he was getting into the boat, the person who had been haunted by demons begged him to be able to go with him. 19 Jesus did not allow it, and instead, he said to him, “Go to your home, to your family, and tell them about everything the Lord has done for you and that he has shown loving faithfulnessb to you. 20 The person went away and began to announce in the Decapolisc everything Jesus did for him, and everyone was amazed.
21 After Jesus crossed in the boat back to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him, while he was at the shore. 22 One of the leaders of the synagogue, named Jairus, came to him, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. 23 He begged Jesus repeatedly, “My young daughter is about to die. If you were to come and place your hands on her to restored her, she would live,” 24 and Jesus went with him.
The large crowd followed him and pressed in around him. 25 A woman was there who had a hemorrhage for 12 years 26 and had suffered many times under the care of many doctors and had spent everything she had, and nothing had helped her, but instead, she had gotten worse. 27 After she heard about Jesus, she came behind him among the crowd, and grasped his clothing. 28 That’s because she was saying to herself, “If only I grasp his clothing, I’ll be restored.e 29 Straightaway, the source of her blood stopped bleeding, and she knew in her body that she had been cured of the torture.f
30 Straightaway, Jesus knew within himself that his power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and started saying, “Who grasped my clothing?”
31 “You see the crowd pressing in around you,” his students said to him, “but you’re saying, ‘Who grasped me?” 32 but he kept looking around to see who had done it.
33 Then, the woman, who was afraid and trembling and had realized what happened to her, came and threw herself down in front of him and told him the whole truth.
34 “Daughter,” he said to her, “Your trust has restoredg you. Go in peace and be whole, distant from your torture.”
35 While he was still speaking, people came from the synagogue leader’s home, saying, “Your daughter has died. Why bother the teacher anymore?”
36 However, Jesus, refusing to listen to what was being said, told the synagogue leader, “Don’t be afraid. Just trust. 37 He didn’t let anyone follow along with them except Peter, Jacob,h and Jacob’s brother, John. 38 They went to the synagogue leader’s house, and Jesus surveyed the uproar and many people weeping and wailing in mourning.
39 After he went inside, he said to them, “Why are you in an uproar and weeping? The child has not died but is sleeping.” 40 They began to mock him, but he drove everyone out. He brought along the child’s father and mother and the people who were with him, and he went into the room where the child was. 41 He heldi the child’s hand in his and said to her, “Talitha koum,” which is translated, “Little girl, I tell you, get up.” 42 Straightaway, the girl stood up and began walking around (she was twelve years old). Straightaway, the mother and father were deliriously ecstatic. 43 Jesus strongly warned them that no one should know about it, and he told them to give her something to eat.
FOOTNOTES:
a Traditionally, ‘demon-possesed’ which has come to imply something that doesn’t seem to be reflected in the Bible. The Greek word is something literally like ‘demonized.’ When the Bible uses the language of possession, it always uses it the other way around: someone has a demon, never that a demon has a person.
b Traditionally, ‘mercy.’ It does not have to do with what modern readers think of either as ‘pity’ or ‘relenting from deserved punishment.’ It is used of taking care of people. The Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, the “Septuagint,” using this word to translate the Hebrew word hesed, which means something along the lines of ‘loyal love,’ ‘compassionate faithfulness,’ ‘lovingkindness,’ ‘committed love/kindness.’ It carries a commitment to pursue good for others based in care.
c This refers to a region east of the Jordan River named after the ten towns that originally comprised the area (the word ‘Decapolis’ literally means ‘ten towns.’)
d This is the Greek word sozo, traditionally translated as ‘heal’ in this verse and most widely translated throughout the Bible as ‘save.’ It is not the usual word for heal that is specific to improving health, but rather is a more general word for promoting, restoring, or protecting well-being against oppression, imprisonment, or illness. In this translation, ‘restore’ and ‘liberate’ have been the most commonly used ways to translate it.
e This is the Greek word sozo, traditionally translated as ‘healed’ in this verse and most widely translated throughout the Bible as ‘saved.’ It is not the usual word for heal that is specific to improving health, but rather is a more general word for promoting, restoring, or protecting well-being against oppression, imprisonment, or illness. In this translation, ‘restore’ and ‘liberate’ have been the most commonly used ways to translate it.
f Many translations render this word as ‘disease.’ It is mastix, which literally means a repetitive whipping as a punishment or torture, ‘flogging,’
g This is the Greek word sozo, traditionally translated as ‘has healed’ in this verse and most widely translated throughout the Bible as ‘has saved.’ It is not the usual word for heal that is specific to improving health, but rather is a more general word for promoting, restoring, or protecting well-being against oppression, imprisonment, or illness. In this translation, ‘restore’ and ‘liberate’ have been the most commonly used ways to translate it.
h Traditionally, ‘James.’ However, this is the Greek Iakobos, which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Yaqov. This is the same name referring to Jacob in Matthew 1:2.
i This is the same word translated as ‘grasped’ in verse 27.