Daily Gospel Plan

¹They came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gerasenes.

²When Jesus got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him,

³and the man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with chains.

⁴For he had often been bound with shackles [for the feet] and with chains, and he tore apart the chains and broke the shackles into pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue and tame him.

⁵Night and day he was constantly screaming and shrieking among the tombs and on the mountains, and cutting himself with [sharp] stones.

⁶Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him [in homage];

⁷and screaming with a loud voice, he said, " What business do we have in common with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore you by God [swear to me], do not torment me!"

⁸For Jesus had been saying to him, "Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!"

⁹He was asking him, "What is your name?" And he replied, "My name is Legion; for we are many."

¹⁰And he began begging Him repeatedly not to send them out of the region.

¹¹Now there was a large herd of pigs grazing there on the mountain.

¹²And the demons begged Him, saying, "Send us to the pigs so that we may go into them!"

¹³Jesus gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out [of the man] and entered the pigs. The herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea; and they were drowned [one after the other] in the sea.

¹⁴The herdsmen [tending the pigs] ran away and reported it in the city and in the country. And the people came to see what had happened.

¹⁵They came to Jesus and saw the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the man who had [previously] had the "legion" [of demons]; and they were frightened.

¹⁶Those who had seen it described [in detail] to the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man, and [told them all] about the pigs.

¹⁷So the people began to beg with Jesus to leave their region.

¹⁸As He was stepping into the boat, the [Gentile] man who had been demon-possessed was begging with Him [asking] that he might go with Him [as a disciple].

¹⁹Jesus did not let him [come], but [instead] He said to him, "Go home to your family and tell them all the great things that the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you."

²⁰So he [obeyed and] went away and began to publicly proclaim in Decapolis [the region of the ten Hellenistic cities] all the great things that Jesus had done for him; and all the people were astonished.

²¹When Jesus had again crossed over in the boat to the other side [of the sea], a large crowd gathered around Him; and so He stayed by the seashore.

²²One of the synagogue officials named Jairus came up; and seeing Him, fell at His feet

²³and begged anxiously with Him, saying, "My little daughter is at the point of death; [please] come and lay Your hands on her, so that she will be healed and live."

²⁴And Jesus went with him; and a large crowd followed Him and pressed in around Him [from all sides].

²⁵A woman [in the crowd] had [suffered from] a hemorrhage for twelve years,

²⁶and had endured much [suffering] at the hands of many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but instead had become worse.

²⁷She had heard [reports] about Jesus, and she came up behind Him in the crowd and touched His outer robe.

²⁸For she thought, "If I just touch His clothing, I will get well."

²⁹Immediately her flow of blood was dried up; and she felt in her body [and knew without any doubt] that she was healed of her suffering.

³⁰Immediately Jesus, recognizing in Himself that power had gone out from Him, turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched My clothes?"

³¹His disciples said to Him, "You see the crowd pressing in around You [from all sides], and You ask, 'Who touched Me?'"

³²Still He kept looking around to see the woman who had done it.

³³And the woman, though she was afraid and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.

³⁴Then He said to her, "Daughter, your faith [your personal trust and confidence in Me] has restored you to health; go in peace and be [permanently] healed from your suffering."

³⁵While He was still speaking, some people came from the synagogue official's house, saying [to Jairus], "Your daughter has died; why bother the Teacher any longer?"

³⁶Overhearing what was being said, Jesus said to the synagogue official, "Do not be afraid; only keep on believing [in Me and my power]."

³⁷And He allowed no one to go with Him [as witnesses], except Peter and James and John the brother of James.

³⁸They came to the house of the synagogue official; and He looked [with understanding] at the uproar and commotion, and people loudly weeping and wailing [in mourning].

³⁹When He had gone in, He said to them, "Why make a commotion and weep? The child has not died, but is sleeping."

⁴⁰They began laughing [scornfully] at Him [because they knew the child was dead]. But He made them all go outside, and took along the child's father and mother and His own [three] companions, and entered the room where the child was.

⁴¹Taking the child's hand, He said [tenderly] to her, "Talitha kum!"—which translated [from Aramaic] means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!"

⁴²The little girl immediately got up and began to walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they [who witnessed the child's resurrection] were overcome with great wonder and utter amazement.

⁴³He gave strict orders that no one should know about this, and He told them to give her something to eat.

¹Jesus left there and came to His hometown [Nazareth]; and His disciples followed Him.

²When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue; and many who listened to Him were astonished, saying, "Where did this man get these things [this knowledge and spiritual insight]? What is this wisdom [this confident understanding of the Scripture] that has been given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands?

³Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are His sisters not here with us?" And they were [deeply] offended by Him [and their disapproval blinded them to the fact that He was anointed by God as the Messiah].

⁴Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor (respect) except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household."

⁵And He could not do a miracle there at all [because of their unbelief] except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them.

⁶He wondered at their unbelief. And He was going around in the villages teaching.

⁷And He called the twelve [disciples] and began to send them out [as His special messengers] two by two, and gave them authority and power over the unclean spirits.

⁸He told them to take nothing for the journey except a mere walking stick—no bread, no [traveler's] bag, no money in their belts—

⁹but to wear sandals; and [He told them] not to wear two tunics.

¹⁰And He told them, "Wherever you go into a house, stay there until you leave that town.

¹¹Any place that does not welcome you or listen to you, when you leave there, shake the dust off the soles of your feet as a testimony against them [breaking all ties with them because they rejected My message]."

¹²So they went out and preached that men should repent [that is, think differently, recognize sin, turn away from it, and live changed lives].

¹³And they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many who were sick, and healing them.

¹⁴King Herod [Antipas] heard about this, for Jesus' name and reputation had become well known. People were saying, "John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are at work in Him."

¹⁵But others were saying, "He is Elijah!" And others were saying, "It is a prophet, like one of the prophets [of old]."

¹⁶But when Herod heard [of it], he kept saying, "John, whom I beheaded, has risen [from the dead]!"

¹⁷For Herod himself had sent [guards] and had John arrested and shackled in prison because of Herodias, the wife of his [half-] brother Philip, because he (Herod) had married her.

¹⁸For John had been saying to Herod, "It is not lawful [under Mosaic Law] for you to have your brother's wife."

¹⁹Herodias had a grudge against John and wanted to kill him, but she could not,

²⁰because Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he continually kept him safe. When he heard John [speak], he was very perplexed; but he enjoyed listening to him.

²¹But an opportune time [finally] came [for Herodias]. Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his officials (nobles, courtiers) and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee.

²²Now [Salome] the daughter of Herodias came in and danced [for the men]. She pleased and beguiled Herod and his dinner guests; and the king said to the girl, "Ask me for whatever you want and I will give it to you."

²³And he swore to her, "Whatever you ask me, I will give it to you; up to half of my kingdom."

²⁴She went out and said to her mother, "What shall I ask for?" And Herodias replied, "The head of John the Baptist!"

²⁵And she rushed back to the king and asked, saying, "I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter!"

²⁶The king was deeply grieved, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests [who might have regarded him as weak], he was unwilling to [break his word and] refuse her.

²⁷So the king immediately sent for an executioner and commanded him to bring back John's head. And he went and had John beheaded in the prison,

²⁸and brought back his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother.

²⁹When his disciples heard about this, they came and took away John's body and laid it in a tomb.

³⁰The apostles [who had been sent out on a mission] gathered together with Jesus and told Him everything that they had done and taught.

³¹He said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a little while"—for there were many [people who were continually] coming and going, and they could not even find time to eat.

³²And they went away by themselves in the boat to a secluded place.

³³Many [people] saw them leaving, and recognized them and ran there together on foot from all the [surrounding] cities, and got there ahead of them.

³⁴When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd [waiting], and He was moved with compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd [lacking guidance]; and He began to teach them many things.

³⁵When the day was nearly gone, His disciples came to Him and said, "This is an isolated place, and it is already late;

³⁶send the crowds away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat."

³⁷But He replied, "You give them something to eat!" And they asked Him, "Shall we go and buy 200 denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?"

³⁸He said to them, "How many loaves do you have? Go look!" And when they found out, they said, "Five [loaves], and two fish."

³⁹Then Jesus commanded them all to sit down by groups on the green grass.

⁴⁰They sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties [so that the crowd resembled an orderly arrangement of colorful garden plots].

⁴¹Taking the five loaves and two fish, He looked up to heaven and said a blessing [of praise and thanksgiving to the Father]. Then He broke the loaves and [repeatedly] gave them to the disciples to set before the people; and He divided up the two fish among them all.

⁴²They all ate and were satisfied.

⁴³And the disciples picked up twelve full baskets of the broken pieces [of the loaves], and of the fish.

⁴⁴Those who ate the loaves were five thousand men [not counting the women and children].

⁴⁵Jesus immediately insisted that His disciples get into the boat and go ahead [of Him] to the other side to Bethsaida, while He was dismissing the crowd.

⁴⁶And after He said goodbye to them, He went to the mountain to pray.

⁴⁷Now when evening had come, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and Jesus was alone on the land.

⁴⁸Seeing the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night (3:00-6:00 a.m.) He came to them, walking on the sea. And [acted as if] He intended to pass by them.

⁴⁹But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost, and cried out [in horror];

⁵⁰for they all saw Him and were shaken and terrified. But He immediately spoke with them and said, "Take courage! It is I (I Am)! Stop being afraid."

⁵¹Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased [as if exhausted by its own activity]; and they were completely overwhelmed,

⁵²because they had not understood [the miracle of] the loaves [how it revealed the power and deity of Jesus]; but [in fact] their heart was hardened [being oblivious and indifferent to His amazing works].

⁵³When they had crossed over [the sea], they reached the land of Gennesaret and anchored at the shore.

⁵⁴They got out of the boat and immediately people recognized Him,

⁵⁵and ran throughout that surrounding countryside and began to carry around on their mats those who were sick, to any place where they heard He was.

⁵⁶And wherever He came into villages, or cities, or the countryside, they were laying the sick in the market places and pleading with Him [to allow them] just to touch the fringe (tassel with a blue cord) of His robe; and all who touched it were healed.