The Demons and the Pigs

(Matthew 8:28–34, Luke 8:26–39)

5 On the other side of the sea, they arrived in the region of the Gerasenes.[fn] 2 As soon as Jesus got out of the boat, He was met by a man with an unclean spirit, who was coming from the tombs. 3 This man had been living in the tombs and could no longer be restrained, even with chains. 4 Though he was often bound with chains and shackles, he had broken the chains and shattered the shackles. Now there was no one with the strength to subdue him. 5 Night and day in the tombs and in the mountains he kept crying out and cutting himself with stones.

6 When the man saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees before Him. 7 And he shouted in a loud voice, “What do You want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You before God not to torture me!” 8 For Jesus had already declared, “Come out of this man, you unclean spirit!”

9 “What is your name?” Jesus asked.

“My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” 10 And he begged Jesus repeatedly not to send them out of that region.

11 There on the nearby hillside a large herd of pigs was feeding. 12 So the demons begged Jesus, “Send us to the pigs, so that we may enter them.”

13 He gave them permission, and the unclean spirits came out and went into the pigs, and the herd of about two thousand rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the water.[fn]

14 Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. 15 When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons sitting there, clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.

16 Those who had seen it described what had happened to the demon-possessed man and also to the pigs. 17 And the people began to beg Jesus to leave their region.

18 As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by the demons begged to go with Him. 19 But Jesus would not allow him. “Go home to your own people,” He said, “and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy He has shown you.”

20 So the man went away and began to proclaim throughout the Decapolis [fn] how much Jesus had done for him. And everyone was amazed.