So they landed in the country of the Gergesenes, which is opposite Galilee. As he stepped ashore he was met by a man from the town who was possessed by spirits.
For a long time this man had neither worn clothes nor lived in a house, but stayed among the tombs. When he saw Jesus he cried out, and fell at his feet, shouting! "What do you want of me, Jesus, son of the Most High God? I implore you; do not torment me!"
For Jesus was already ordering the unclean spirit to come out of the man. Many a time it had seized him, and then, for safety's sake, they would secure him with chains and fetters. But each time he broke loose, and with his devil in charge made off to solitary places.
Jesus asked him his name.
"Legion," he replied, because so many spirits lived in him. And they begged him not to banish them to the Abyss.
There happened to be a large herd of pigs nearby, feeding on the hill; and the spirits begged him to let them go into the pigs. He gave them leave; the devils came out of the man and went into the pigs; then the pigs rushed over the edge and into the lake, where they drowned.
The men watching them saw this and took to their heels; they carried the news to the town and the country-side, so people came out to see for themselves.
When they came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the devils had gone out, sitting at his feet clothed and in his right mind, they were afraid. The witnesses told them how the madman had been cured. Then the whole population of the district asked him to go, for they were in the grip of a great fear.
So he got into the boat and returned.
The man from whom the devils had gone out begged leave to go in the boat, but Jesus sent him back. "Go home," he said, "and tell them everything God has done for you."
The man went all over the town spreading the news of what Jesus had done for him.
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