Luke 8:19-39 : Easy-to-Read Version  | SearchSearch | Next Version | Previous Page | Next Page |

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Jesus' Followers Are His True Family

19Jesus' mother and brothers came to visit him. There were so many people that Jesus' mother and brothers could not get close to him. 20Someone said to Jesus, "Your mother and your brothers are standing outside. They want to see you." 21Jesus answered them, "My mother and my brothers are those people that listen to God's teaching and obey it!"

The Followers See Jesus' Power

22One day Jesus and his followers got into a boat. Jesus said to them, "Come with me across the lake." And so they started across. 23While they were sailing, Jesus slept. A big storm blew down on the lake. The boat began to fill with water. They were in danger. 24The followers went to Jesus and woke him. They said, "Master! Master! We will drown!" Jesus got up. He gave a command to the wind and the waves. The wind stopped, and the lake became calm. 25Jesus said to his followers, "Where is your faith?" The followers were afraid and amazed. They said to each other, "What kind of man is this? He commands the wind and the water, and they obey him!"

A Man with Demons Inside Him

26Jesus and his followers sailed on across the lake. They sailed to the area where the Gerasene people live, across from Galilee. 27When Jesus got out of the boat, a man from that town came to Jesus. This man had demons* inside him. For a long time he had worn no clothes. He lived in the caves where dead people are buried, not in a house. 28-29The demon had often seized him. The man had been put in jail, and his hands and feet had been tied with chains. But the man would always break the chains, and the demon inside him would force him to go out to the places where no people lived. Then Jesus commanded the evil spirit (the demon) to come out of this man. The man fell down before Jesus and shouted with a loud voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Please, don't punish me!" 30Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" The man answered, "Legion."* (He said his name was "Legion" because many demons* had gone into him.) 31The demons begged Jesus not to send them into eternal darkness.* 32On that hill there was a big herd of pigs eating. The demons begged Jesus to allow them to go into the pigs. So Jesus allowed the demons to do this. 33Then the demons came out of the man and went into the pigs. The herd of pigs ran down the hill and into the lake. All the pigs drowned. 34The men that were caring for the pigs ran away. The men told the story in the fields and in the town. 35People went out to see what happened. The people came to Jesus and found the man sitting there at the feet of Jesus. The man had clothes on and his mind was right again; the demons* were gone. The people became afraid. 36The men that saw these things happen told the other people all about how Jesus made the man well. 37All the people asked Jesus to go away. They were afraid. So Jesus got into the boat to go back to Galilee. 38The man that Jesus healed begged to go with Jesus. But Jesus sent the man away, saying, 39"Go back home and tell people what God did for you." So the man went all over town telling what Jesus had done for him.

demon(s) Demons are evil spirits from the devil. Legion The name Legion means very many. A legion was about 5,000 men in the Roman army. eternal darkness Literally, "the abyss," something like a pit or a hole that has no end.

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