Luke 8

1 And it happened afterward that he was traveling through, city by city and village by village, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God; and the twelve were with him, 2 and some women who had been healed of evil spirits and illnesses: Mary called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3 and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, who were serving them out of what belonged to them. [a]

4 And when a large crowd was coming together, and people from town after town were making their way to him, he spoke through a parable: 5 “The sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the road and was trampled down, and the birds of the sky ate it up. 6 And other fell down on the rock, and when it grew it withered, because it had no moisture. 7 And other fell in the middle of the thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. 8 And other fell into the good ground, and when it grew it produced fruit a hundredfold.” As he said these things he called out, “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.”

9 And his disciples were asking him what this parable might be. 10 And he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but to the rest in parables, so that seeing they may not see and hearing they may not understand. [b]

11 “Now this is the parable: the seed is the word of God. 12 And those along the road are the ones who have heard; then the Accuser comes and takes the word away from their heart, so that they may not trust and be saved. [c] 13 And those on the rock are the ones who, when they hear, welcome the word with joy; and these have no root — they trust for a while, and in a time of testing they fall away. [d] 14 And what fell into the thorns — these are the ones who heard, and as they go on their way they are choked by the anxieties and riches and pleasures of life, and they bring nothing to ripeness. 15 But what is in the fine ground — these are the ones who, hearing the word with a fine and good heart, hold on to it and bear fruit with endurance.

16 “And no one, after lighting a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed; but he puts it on a lampstand, so that those who come in may see the light. [e] 17 For nothing is hidden that will not become visible, nor concealed that will not be known and come out into the open. 18 So take care how you hear; for whoever has, it will be given to him, and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken away from him.” [f]

19 And his mother and his brothers came to him, and they were not able to meet with him because of the crowd. 20 And it was reported to him, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.” 21 But he answered and said to them, “My mother and my brothers are these — the ones who hear the word of God and do it.” †

22 And it happened on one of the days that he got into a boat, and his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side of the lake.” And they put out. 23 And as they were sailing he fell asleep. And a squall of wind came down on the lake, and they were being swamped and were in danger. 24 And they came and woke him up, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he woke up and rebuked the wind and the surge of the water, and they stopped, and there was a calm. 25 And he said to them, “Where is your faith?” And in fear they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he gives orders even to the winds and the water, and they obey him?”

26 And they sailed down to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. [g] 27 And when he had gone out onto the land, a certain man from the city met him who had demons; and for a long time he had not put on a garment, and he did not stay in a house but among the tombs. 28 And seeing Jesus he cried out and fell down before him, and with a loud voice he said, “What is there between me and you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.” [h] 29 For he was ordering the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For many times it had seized him, and he was bound with chains and shackles and kept under guard, and breaking the bonds he was driven by the demon into the deserted places.

30 And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion” because many demons had gone into him. 31 And they were begging him not to order them to go away into the abyss. [i] 32 Now there was a herd of a good many pigs feeding there on the mountain; and they begged him to allow them to go into those. And he allowed them. 33 And the demons came out from the man and went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the cliff into the lake and was drowned.

34 And when those feeding them saw what had happened, they fled and reported it in the city and in the fields. 35 And people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone out sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 36 And those who had seen it reported to them how the demon-possessed man had been saved. 37 And the whole population of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to go away from them, because they were gripped by a great fear. And he got into a boat and returned.

38 And the man from whom the demons had gone out was begging to be with him; but he sent him away, saying, 39 “Return to your house and tell all that God did for you.” And he went away, proclaiming through the whole city all that Jesus had done for him. [j]

40 And as Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. 41 And look, a man came whose name was Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue; and falling at Jesus’ feet he was begging him to come into his house, [k] 42 because he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying. And as he went, the crowds were pressing in on him.

43 And a woman who had been in a flow of blood for twelve years, and who had spent her whole living on doctors and could not be healed by anyone, [l] 44 came up behind him and touched the tassel of his cloak; and at once her flow of blood stopped. [m] 45 And Jesus said, “Who is the one who touched me?” And when they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds are hemming you in and pressing on you.” [n] 46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I knew that power had gone out from me.”

47 And when the woman saw that she had not escaped notice, she came trembling, and falling down before him she reported in front of all the people the reason she had touched him, and how she had been healed at once. 48 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” [o]

49 While he was still speaking, someone comes from the ruler of the synagogue, saying, “Your daughter has died; trouble the teacher no further.” 50 But Jesus, hearing it, answered him, “Do not be afraid; only trust, and she will be saved.” 51 And when he came into the house he did not let anyone go in with him except Peter and John and James and the child’s father and mother.

52 And they were all weeping and beating their breasts for her. But he said, “Do not weep; she did not die, but is sleeping.” 53 And they laughed at him, knowing that she had died. 54 But he took hold of her hand and called out, saying, “Child, get up.” [p] 55 And her spirit returned, and she stood up at once; and he directed that she be given something to eat. 56 And her parents were beside themselves; but he charged them to tell no one what had happened.