16. “No one lights a lamp and then covers it with a bowl or hides it under a bed. Instead, they put the lamp on a lampstand so that the people who come in will have enough light to see.
17. Everything that is hidden will become clear. Every secret thing will be made known, and everyone will see it.
18. So think carefully about what you are hearing. The people who have some understanding will receive more. But those who do not have understanding will lose even what they think they have.”
19. Jesus’ mother and brothers came to visit him. But they could not get close to him, because there were so many people.
20. Someone said to Jesus, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside. They want to see you.”
21. Jesus answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those who listen to God’s teaching and obey it.”
22. One day Jesus and his followers got into a boat. He said to them, “Come with me across the lake.” And so they started across.
23. While they were sailing, Jesus slept. A big storm blew across the lake, and the boat began to fill with water. They were in danger.
24. The 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.
25. He said to his followers, “Where is your faith?” They 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.”
26. Jesus and his followers sailed on across the lake. They sailed to the area where the Gerasene people live, across from Galilee.
27. When Jesus got out of the boat, a man from that town came to him. This man had demons inside him. For a long time he had worn no clothes. He did not live in a house but in the caves where the dead are buried.
28-29. The demon inside the man had often seized him, and he had been put in jail with his hands and feet in chains. But he would always break the chains. The demon inside him would force him to go out to the places where no one lived. Jesus commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man. When the man saw Jesus, he fell down before him, shouting loudly, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Please, don’t punish me!”
30. Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” The man answered, “Legion.” (He said his name was “Legion” because many demons had gone into him.)
31. The demons begged Jesus not to send them into the bottomless pit.
32. On that hill there was a big herd of pigs eating. The demons begged Jesus to allow them to go into the pigs. So he allowed them to do this.