Mark 5 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

They crossed the lake to the other side, into the region of the Gerasenes.

The moment Jesus stepped out of the boat, a man with a corrupting spirit came out from the tombs to meet him.

He lived among the burial caves, and no one could restrain him anymore — not even with chains.

He had been chained hand and foot many times, but he tore the chains apart and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to overpower him.

Night and day, in the burial caves and on the hillsides, he would scream and cut himself with stones.

When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him.

He screamed at the top of his lungs, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I'm begging you before God — don't torture me!"

(He said this because Jesus had been telling the spirit, "Come out of this man, you corrupting spirit.")

Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" "My name is Legion," he replied, "because there are many of us."

And he kept begging Jesus again and again not to send them out of the region.

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

The spirits begged Jesus, "Send us into the pigs — let us go into them."

He gave them permission. The corrupting spirits came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd — about two thousand of them — stampeded down the steep bank into the lake and drowned.

The pig herders ran and reported what happened in the town and the countryside, and people came out to see for themselves.

They came to Jesus and saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of spirits — sitting there, dressed, and completely sane. And they were terrified.

Those who had witnessed it described what had happened to the man possessed by the spirits, and told about the pigs too.

Then they began begging Jesus to leave their region.

As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by the spirits begged to go with him.

But Jesus wouldn't let him. Instead he told him, "Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you — how he had mercy on you."

So the man left and began telling everyone in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And everyone was amazed.

When Jesus had crossed back over the lake by boat, a large crowd gathered around him along the shore.

One of the synagogue leaders, a man named Jairus, came and fell at Jesus's feet the moment he saw him.

He pleaded desperately with him: "My little daughter is dying. Please — come and put your hands on her so she'll be healed and live."

So Jesus went with him. A massive crowd followed, pressing in on him from every side.

There was a woman in the crowd who had been suffering from bleeding for twelve years.

She had been through a lot under the care of many doctors and had spent everything she had, but instead of getting better, she only got worse.

She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his outer garment.

She kept telling herself, "If I can just touch his clothes, I'll be made well."

Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she felt in her body that she was healed from her affliction.

At that same moment, Jesus felt power go out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?"

His students said to him, "You see the crowd pressing against you from every direction, and you're asking 'Who touched me?'"

But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it.

The woman, trembling with fear because she knew what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and told him the whole truth.

He said to her, "Dear woman, your trust has rescued you. Go in peace, and be free from your affliction."

While Jesus was still speaking, people came from Jairus's house with the news: "Your daughter is dead. Why bother the teacher anymore?"

But Jesus, overhearing what they said, told the synagogue leader, "Don't be afraid. Just keep trusting."

He didn't let anyone follow him except Peter, James, and James's brother John.

When they arrived at the synagogue leader's house, Jesus saw a commotion — people weeping and wailing loudly.

He went in and said to them, "Why all this commotion and crying? The child isn't dead — she's sleeping."

They laughed at him. But he put them all outside, took the child's father and mother and his three companions, and went in where the child was.

He took the child by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum" — which means, "Little girl, I'm telling you, get up."

Immediately the girl stood up and began walking around. (She was twelve years old.) They were completely overwhelmed with amazement.

He gave them strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.