5 So they got safely to the region of Gerasenes on the other side of the lake. 2 As Yeshua climbed out of the boat, a demon-possessed man came out of the tombs to meet him. 3 He lived in those tombs, and no one could tie him up, not even with chains, 4 because he had often been tied up in the past with shackles and chains but had always pulled the chains apart and smashed the shackles, and no one was able to subdue him. 5 All through the day and night, whether in the tombs or up in the hills, he was yelling out and hurting himself with stones.

6 So when he had seen Yeshua in the distance, he ran and as a sign of honour fell to the ground in front of him. 7 Then he called out very loudly, “What will happen between us, Yeshua, the son of the highest God? I beg you in God’s name not to torment me.” 8 Because Yeshua had already started saying, “Come out of the man you ungodly spirit!”

9 Yeshua asked, “What’s your name?”

The man answered, “My name is ‘Thousands’ because there’s many of us,” 10 and he begged Yeshua not to send them out of the country.

11 It just so happened that there was a large herd of pigs being fed on the hill nearby 12 and they begged Yeshua again saying, “Send us to the pigs so that we can enter them.” 13 Yeshua agreed to that, so the ungodly spirits came out of the man, went into the pigs, and the entire herd of some two thousand pigs rushed down the steep bank into the sea and were drowned.

14 The ones who had been feeding them rushed off and spread the news around in the city and the surrounding area. So the people hurried out to see what had happened. 15 When they arrived where Yeshua was, they saw the man who had been demon-possessed fully-clothed and sitting there in full control of his senses. They knew it was the man called ‘Thousands’ and they became frightened. 16 Those who had seen it all happen described it all to the people—what had happened both to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs.

17 So then the people began asking Yeshua to go away from their region.

18 As Yeshua was climbing back into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed wanted to go with him.

19 But Yeshua wouldn’t let him and told him to head back home to his own people, and explain to them what the Master had done for him and how he had been merciful to him.

20 So he went away and shared with the people of the Ten Cities region what Yeshua had done for him, and they were all amazed.