<p class="bodytext">When<n id="1" /> John&#8217;s messengers had gone, Jesus<n id="2" /> began to speak to the crowds about John: &#8220;What did you go out into the wilderness<n id="3" /> to see? A reed shaken by the wind?<n id="4" />

What<n id="1" /> did you go out to see? A man dressed in fancy<n id="2" /> clothes?<n id="3" /> Look, those who wear fancy clothes and live in luxury<n id="4" /> are in kings&#8217; courts!<n id="5" />

and also some women<n id="1" /> who had been healed of evil spirits and disabilities:<n id="2" /> Mary<n id="3" /> (called Magdalene), from whom seven demons had gone out,

So<n id="1" /> the demons came out of the man and went into the pigs, and the herd of pigs<n id="2" /> rushed down the steep slope into the lake and drowned.

The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go<n id="1" /> with him, but Jesus<n id="2" /> sent him away, saying,

Wherever<n id="1" /> they do not receive you,<n id="2" /> as you leave that town,<n id="3" /> shake the dust off<n id="4" /> your feet as a testimony against them.&#8221;

<t /><p class="bodytext">Now<n id="1" /> he was casting out a demon that was mute.<n id="2" /> When<n id="3" /> the demon had gone out, the man who had been mute began to speak,<n id="4" /> and the crowds were amazed.

<t /><p class="bodytext">At that time,<n id="1" /> some Pharisees<n id="2" /> came up and said to Jesus,<n id="3" /> &#8220;Get away from here,<n id="4" /> because Herod<n id="5" /> wants to kill you.&#8221;

So<n id="1" /> the master said to his<n id="2" /> slave, &#8216;Go out to the highways<n id="3" /> and country roads<n id="4" /> and urge<n id="5" /> people<n id="6" /> to come in, so that my house will be filled.<n id="7" />

<p class="bodytext">So<n id="1" /> every day Jesus<n id="2" /> was teaching in the temple courts,<n id="3" /> but at night he went and stayed<n id="4" /> on the Mount of Olives.<n id="5" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">Then<n id="1" /> Jesus<n id="2" /> went out and made his way,<n id="3" /> as he customarily did, to the Mount of Olives,<n id="4" /> and the disciples followed him.

Then<n id="1" /> Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard,<n id="2" /> and the elders who had come out to get him, &#8220;Have you come out with swords and clubs like you would against an outlaw?<n id="3" />

When<n id="1" /> he came out, he was not able to speak to them. They<n id="2" /> realized that he had seen a vision<n id="3" /> in the holy place,<n id="4" /> because<n id="5" /> he was making signs to them and remained unable to speak.<n id="6" />

They<n id="1" /> were all amazed and began to say<n id="2" /> to one another, &#8220;What&#8217;s happening here?<n id="3" /> For with authority and power<n id="4" /> he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!&#8221;

Demons also came out<n id="1" /> of many, crying out,<n id="2" /> &#8220;You are the Son of God!&#8221;<n id="3" /> But he rebuked<n id="4" /> them, and would not allow them to speak,<n id="5" /> because they knew that he was the Christ.<n id="6" />p>

<p class="bodytext">The next morning<n id="1" /> Jesus<n id="2" /> departed and went to a deserted place. Yet<n id="3" /> the crowds were seeking him, and they came to him and tried to keep him from leaving them.

&#8220;A sower went out to sow<n id="1" /> his seed.<n id="2" /> And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled on, and the wild birds<n id="3" /> devoured it.

As<n id="1" /> Jesus<n id="2" /> stepped ashore,<n id="3" /> a certain man from the town<n id="4" /> met him who was possessed by demons.<n id="5" /> For a long time this man<n id="6" /> had worn no clothes and had not lived in a house, but among<n id="7" /> the tombs.

For Jesus<n id="1" /> had started commanding<n id="2" /> the evil<n id="3" /> spirit to come out of the man. (For it had seized him many times, so<n id="4" /> he would be bound with chains and shackles<n id="5" /> and kept under guard. But<n id="6" /> he would break the restraints and be driven by the demon into deserted<n id="7" /> places.)<n id="8" />

But one after another they all<n id="1" /> began to make excuses.<n id="2" /> The first said to him, &#8216;I have bought a field,<n id="3" /> and I must go out and see it. Please excuse me.&#8217;<n id="4" />