The news [of what Jesus was doing] spread all over [the country of] Syria and they brought to Him all those who were sick, stricken with various diseases and pains, dominated by evil spirits, and afflicted with seizures and paralysis, and He healed them [all].

But you should just say 'yes' [when you mean] yes, and 'no' [when you mean] no. Whatever you say beyond these [i.e., enforcing them by oaths] is of the evil one [i.e., the devil].

But I tell you, do not offer resistance to an evil person, but whoever hits you on the right side of the face, allow him [to hit you] on the other side also.

in order to be [true] children of your Father in heaven, for He makes His sun to rise on evil [as well] as on good people. He [also] sends rain on those who live right [as well] as on those who do not live right.

And do not allow us to fall under temptation, but deliver us from [being harmed by] the evil one.'

Many persons will say to me on the [judgment] day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by [the authority of] your name, and drive out evil spirits and perform many powerful [supernatural] deeds by your name?'

When evening came they brought many persons who were dominated by evil spirits to Jesus and He drove out the spirits with [just] a word and healed all those who were sick.

And when He got to the other side [i.e., the east side of the lake], He was in the district of the Gadarenes. There He was met by two men dominated by evil spirits. They came from the graveyard [where they lived] and were so fierce that no one could [safely] travel that road.

So, the evil spirits [in one of the men. See Mark 5:1ff] begged Jesus, saying, "If you are going to drive us out [of this man], send us away into that herd of [wild] hogs."

[Upon seeing this happen] the men who were tending the herd ran away and went into the town [i.e., of Gadara, one of ten towns making up the province of Decapolis], and told the people everything, [including] what had happened to the men dominated by evil spirits.

Knowing what they were thinking, Jesus said, "Why are you having such evil thoughts in your minds?

As they went on their way a deaf-mute, dominated by an evil spirit, was brought to Jesus.

When the evil spirit was driven out [by Jesus] the [former] deaf-mute began to speak, and the crowds marveled, saying, "No one in Israel has ever seen this done before."

But the Pharisees said, "He is driving out evil spirits by [the power of] the chief of evil spirits."

Jesus then called His twelve apostles [see next verse] to Him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal all kinds of diseases and illnesses.

Heal sick people, raise people from the dead, restore health to those with infectious skin diseases, and drive out evil spirits. You have received [blessings] freely, [now] give them out freely.

A disciple is doing well if he can be [as good] as his teacher, and the slave [as good] as his master. If they have called the master of the house [i.e., Jesus] Beelzebub [i.e., the chief of evil spirits. See Mark 3:22], how much more [likely] will they call members of his household [i.e., the disciples] the same thing!

For when John came, he did not eat or drink [on festive occasions] and people said, 'He is dominated by an evil spirit.'

Then a person dominated by an evil spirit, who was [also] blind and mute, was brought to Jesus. He healed the man so that he was able [both] to speak and see [again].

But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "This man does not drive out evil spirits except by [the power of] Beelzebub, the chief of evil spirits."

And if I drive out evil spirits by [the power of] Beelzebub, by whom do they [i.e., your people] drive them out? So, they become your judges.

But if I drive out evil spirits by [the power of] the Holy Spirit, then [that is evidence that] the kingdom of God has come into your midst [i.e., by my presence and ministry].

You children of snakes! Since you are evil, how do you expect to speak good things? For the mouth speaks what the heart is filled with.

The good person produces good things from his storehouse of goodness. But the evil person produces bad things from his storehouse of evil.

But He said to them, "It is [only] an evil and unfaithful [i.e., to God] generation of people that looks for a [supernatural] sign. And there will not be any sign given to it except the [supernatural] sign [demonstrated in the life] of Jonah, the prophet.

But when an evil spirit has been driven out of a person, it roams through desert regions trying to find rest but cannot find it.

Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits, more evil than itself, and they reenter [the body] and [begin to] live there, so that the latter state of that person becomes worse than the former [state]. It will be the same way with the people of this evil generation."

When anyone hears the message of the kingdom but does not understand it, the evil one [i.e., the devil] comes to him and grabs away what had been sown in his heart. This is the person who was scattered to the side of the road.

and the field [represents] the world. The good seed [represents] the children who belong to the kingdom, and the weeds [represent] the children who belong to the evil one [i.e., the devil].

For evil thoughts, murder, extramarital affairs, sexual immorality, stealing, perjury, slander --- [all these] come from a person's heart,

Just then a Canaanite woman came out of that area [Note: Mark 7:26 calls her a Syrophoenician Gentile], crying, "O Lord, son of David, have pity on me. My daughter is seriously troubled by an evil spirit."

"It is an evil and spiritually unfaithful generation of people [that keeps on] looking for a [supernatural] sign; but there will be no [such] sign given to it except the sign of Jonah [i.e., being in the huge fish for three days]." Then He left them and went away.

"Lord, take pity on my son, for he has violent seizures and suffers intense pain. He often falls into a fire or into water. [Note: This man was also dominated by an evil spirit. See verse 18].

Then Jesus spoke sternly to [the evil spirit in] the boy, and it left him, and he was immediately healed.

Then Jesus' disciples came to Him privately and said, "Why could we not drive out that evil spirit?"

And while the disciples were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of man will be handed over to [evil] men

They answered him, "He will bring terrible destruction on those evil men and will lease the vineyard to other tenant farmers who will deliver the crops to him each harvest time."

"It is too bad for you hypocritical experts in the law of Moses and [you] Pharisees! For you [carefully] wash the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they [i.e., such evil people] are full of greed and uncontrolled desire.

But if that slave, with evil intent, should think to himself, 'My master will not be back very soon,'

And just then there appeared in the synagogue a man dominated by an evil spirit. He shouted out,

And the evil spirit caused the man to have a convulsion, then shouted with a loud voice and came out of him.

And all the people [in the synagogue] were so amazed they began asking one another, "What is this, some new teaching? And it is spoken with such authority He even orders evil spirits, and they obey him."

When evening came and the sun had set, they brought to Jesus all those who were sick and those dominated by evil spirits.

and He healed many of those who were sick with various diseases and drove out many evil spirits. But He did not permit the evil spirits to tell people [who He was], because they knew who He was [i.e., the Christ].

So, Jesus went into the [Jewish] synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching [the good news about the coming kingdom, verses 14-15] and driving out evil spirits.

And whenever they saw Him, [people possessed by] evil spirits fell to the ground in front of Him, shouting, "You are the Son of God."

and have authority to drive out evil spirits.

And the experts in the law of Moses who had come down from Jerusalem were saying [Note: This followed the incident of Jesus healing a man with an evil spirit. See Matt. 12:22-28], "He has Beelzebub [in him]," and "He is driving out evil spirits by [the power of] the chief of evil spirits."

Jesus said all this because these experts in the law of Moses had been saying, "He has an evil spirit in him."

but worry [over things] of the world, and the deceitfulness of material wealth, and the evil desires for other things entered their hearts and choked [the effectiveness of] 'the word,' so that it did not yield a crop [in their lives].

When Jesus left the boat, immediately a man with an evil spirit came from the graveyard to meet Him.

For Jesus was saying to [the evil spirit in] him, "Come out of this man, you evil spirit."

Then He asked [the evil spirit], "What is your name?" And he answered Him, "My name is 'Legion,' [Note: This word means a number consisting of between 5,000 and 6,000], for there are many of us [i.e., evil spirits]."

The evil spirits begged Him, saying, "Send us into those [wild] hogs, so we can enter their bodies."

And He gave them permission to do it. So, the evil spirits went out of the man's body and entered the bodies of the [wild] hogs. The herd then rushed down the cliff into the lake. There were about two thousand that drowned in the lake.

And when people came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been dominated by 5,000 to 6,000 evil spirits sitting down with his clothes on and perfectly sane, and they were afraid.

Those who saw this told the people what had happened to the man dominated by the evil spirits and about the [wild] hogs.

As He entered the boat the man who had been dominated by evil spirits begged for permission to be allowed to go with Him.

Then Jesus called to Him the twelve apostles and sent them out two by two. He gave them authority over evil spirits

And they drove out many evil spirits and applied [olive] oil to [the heads of] many sick people and healed them.

For from within, out of people's hearts, proceed evil thoughts, sexual immorality, stealing, murder, extramarital affairs,

All these evil things proceed from within [man's heart] and [spiritually] corrupt him."

But just then a woman whose little daughter was dominated by an evil spirit heard about Jesus and came and fell down at His feet.

Now the woman was a Greek [i.e., a Gentile], a Syrophoenician by nationality. [Note: This was a region just north of Galilee and consisted of Syria and Phoenicia]. She begged Him to drive out the evil spirit from her daughter.

And He said to her, "Because you have said this, go on your way; the evil spirit has left your daughter."

And she went away to her house and found her child lying on her bed with the evil spirit gone from her.

And frequently the evil spirit has tried to kill him, throwing him into a fire or into the water. But if you can do anything [for him], have pity on us and help us."

When Jesus saw a crowd running together [toward Him], He spoke sternly to the evil spirit [in the boy], saying to it, "You deaf-mute spirit, I order you to come out of this boy and to never return to him again."

And when Jesus had come into a house, His disciples asked Him privately, "Why could we not drive out the evil spirit [from that boy]?"

For He taught His disciples, saying to them, "The Son of man will be handed over to [evil] men and they will kill Him, and three days after He dies He will rise up again."

[Then] John [the apostle] said to Him, "Teacher, we saw someone driving out evil spirits by using your name, so we told him to stop doing it, because he was not following [You] with us."

Now when Jesus arose from the dead early on the first day of the week [i.e., Sunday morning], He appeared first to Mary from Magdala, from whom He had driven out seven evil spirits.

and Acts 2:43]. In my name [i.e., by my authority], they will drive out evil spirits; they will speak in languages [supernaturally];

Now there was a man in the synagogue who was dominated by the spirit of an evil demon [Note: These "evil spirits" or "demons" were powerful beings sent by Satan to inhabit people, causing physical, mental and spiritual harm to them]. He was shouting with a loud voice,

Then Jesus spoke sternly to the evil spirit [in the man], saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him." And when the evil spirit had thrown the man down in front of them, it came out of him, without causing any harm.

And everyone became amazed and began saying to one another, "What is he saying? For he orders the evil spirits with authority and power to come out [of people], and they do."

And evil spirits also came out of many people, shouting [at Him], "You are the Son of God." And Jesus spoke sternly to them and would not allow them to speak [anymore] because they knew He was the Christ [Note: Jesus would not accept the endorsement of these Satanic spirits].

And [also] those who were tormented by evil spirits were healed.

You are blessed when men hate you and withdraw their fellowship from you and speak abusively about you and reject your name as evil, [all] for being loyal to the Son of man.

But love your enemies and do good things to them; and lend to them without expecting it to be returned, and your reward [i.e., from God] will be great and you will be [considered] sons of the Highest [i.e., God]. For He is kind to unthankful and evil people [as well].

The good person produces good things from the goodness stored up in his heart. And the evil person produces bad things from the evil [stored up in his heart]. For his mouth speaks what his heart is filled with.

At that very time Jesus was healing many people from diseases, those plagued with serious illnesses and those dominated by evil spirits. He [also] restored sight to many blind people.

For when John the Immerser came, he did not eat bread or drink wine [on festive occasions] and you said, 'He is dominated by an evil spirit.'

and certain women who had been healed from [domination by] evil spirits and diseases. [These women were] Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven evil spirits had been driven out,

And when He stepped out [of the boat] onto the shore, He was met by a certain man from the town, who was dominated by evil spirits. He had not worn any clothes for a long time and lived in the graveyard instead of a house.

For Jesus was commanding the evil spirits to be driven out of the man, because they had been controlling him for a long time. The man was continually being guarded and his hands and feet were bound with chains. [Sometimes] he broke loose from the chains and was driven into the desert by the evil spirits.

Then Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" And he answered, " [My name is] 'Legion'" [Note: This word means a number consisting of between 5,000 and 6,000], for many evil spirits had entered the man.

And the evil spirits begged Jesus not to require them to go away into the "pit" [Note: This appears to be the place reserved for the devil and his evil spirits. See Rev. 9:1-11; 20:1-3].

Now a herd of many [wild?] hogs was grazing on a [nearby] mountain, so the evil spirits begged Jesus to give them permission to enter [the bodies of] the hogs. So, He gave them permission [to do it].

Then the evil spirits went out of the man and entered the hogs. The herd [immediately] rushed down the cliff into the lake and was drowned.

People went out to see [i.e., to find out] what had happened. And [when] they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the evil spirits had been driven out sitting down at Jesus' feet with his clothes on and perfectly sane, they were afraid.

Those who saw this told others how the man dominated by evil spirits was restored.

But the man from whom the evil spirits had been driven out begged Jesus to allow him to travel with Him, but Jesus sent him away, saying,

Jesus then called the twelve apostles together and gave them power and authority over all evil spirits and [the ability] to heal diseases.

For when an evil spirit takes hold of him he suddenly screams and [then] it throws him into convulsions so that he foams [at the mouth]. And it does not want to leave him, [even after] severely bruising him.

And while the boy was approaching [Jesus], an evil spirit threw him to the ground in a convulsion. But Jesus spoke sternly to the evil spirit and [then] returned him to his father healed.

"Pay close attention to what I am saying, for the Son of man will be handed over to [evil] men."

Then [the apostle] John answered and said, "Master, we saw someone driving out evil spirits by [using] your name, so we told him not to, because he was not following [you] with us."

So, the seventy-two disciples returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the evil spirits submitted to us in your name [i.e., by your authority]."

Nevertheless, do not rejoice over the [evil] spirits submitting to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven [i.e., in the book of life. See Rev. 3:5; Heb. 12:23]."