1 THEY CAME to the other side of the sea to the region of the Gerasenes. 2 And as soon as He got out of the boat, there met Him out of the tombs a man [under the power] of an unclean spirit. 3 This man 1 continually lived among the tombs, and no one could subdue him any more, even with a chain; 4 For he had been bound often with shackles for the feet and 2 handcuffs, but the handcuffs of [light] chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he rubbed and ground together and broke in pieces; and no one had strength enough to restrain or tame him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always 3 shrieking and screaming and 4 beating and bruising and 5 cutting himself with stones. 6 And when from a distance he saw Jesus, he ran and fell on his knees before Him in homage, 7 And crying out with a loud voice, he said, What have You to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? [What is there in common between us?] I 6 solemnly implore you by God, do not begin to torment me! 8 For Jesus was commanding, Come out of the man, you unclean spirit! 9 And He asked him, What is your name? He replied, My name is Legion, for we are many. 10 And he kept begging Him urgently not to send them [himself and the other demons] away out of that region. 11 Now a great herd of hogs was grazing there on the hillside. 12 And the demons begged Him, saying, Send us to the hogs, that we may go into them! 13 So He gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out [of the man] and entered into the hogs; and the herd, numbering about 2,000, rushed headlong down the steep slope into the sea and were drowned in the sea.
14 The hog feeders ran away, and told [it] in the town and in the country. And [the people] came to see what it was that had taken place. 15 And they came to Jesus and looked intently and searchingly at the man who had been a demoniac, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, [the same man] who had had the legion [of demons]; and they were 7 seized with alarm and struck with fear. 16 And those who had seen it related in full what had happened to the man possessed by demons and to the hogs. 17 And they began to beg [Jesus] to leave their neighborhood. 18 And when He had stepped into the boat, the man who had been controlled by the unclean spirits kept begging Him that he might be with Him. 19 But Jesus refused to permit him, but said to him, Go home to your own [family and relatives and friends] and bring back word to them of how much the Lord has done for you, and [how He has] had sympathy for you and mercy on you. 20 And he departed and began to publicly proclaim in Decapolis [the region of the ten cities] how much Jesus had done for him, and all the people were astonished and marveled.