The man replied, “I have wholeheartedly obeyed all these laws since my youth.”

When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his possessions are safe.

But he replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!”

Now there were shepherds nearby living out in the field, keeping guard over their flock at night.

For Jesus had started commanding the evil spirit to come out of the man. (For it had seized him many times, so he would be bound with chains and shackles and kept under guard. But he would break the restraints and be driven by the demon into deserted places.)

Then he said to them, “Watch out and guard yourself from all types of greed, because one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”