1 Then they came to the country of the Gadarenes, on the opposite side of the sea;

2 and he had no sooner stepped out of the boat, than a man out of the tombs came to meet him, a man with an unclean spirit,

3 who lived among the tombs.

4 Not even with a chain could any man bind him, for he had been bound with fetters and chains again and again, and had snapped the chains, and broken the fetters; and there was no one strong enough to master him.

5 And always, night and day, he remained among the tombs and in the mountains, shrieking and gashing himself with stones.

6 As he caught sight of Jesus from afar, he ran and knelt before him,

7 and with a shriek he cried out in a loud voice. "Jesus, son of God most high, what business have you with me? I adjure you by God, torment me not!"

8 For Jesus was saying, "Foul spirit, come out of the man."

9 He continued asking him, "What is your mane?" "Legion is my name, for we are many."

10 Over and over he continued to beg Jesus not to send them away out of the country.

11 Now there was on the hillside a great drove of swine feeding.

12 So the spirits begged him, saying, "Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them."

13 And he gave them leave. And out came the foul spirits and entered the swine; and the drove rushed down from the steep into the sea, in number about two thousand, and were choked in the sea.

14 On this the swineherds ran away and spread the news in town and country. So the people went to see what had happened.