One day some people came to Jesus and his disciples. One of the men asked Jesus to help his son. He had asked the disciples to heal his son. But they could not. The man’s son had an evil spirit in him. The evil spirit made the boy hurt himself.

Mark 9:14–18

Jesus told the man to get his son. The boy came to Jesus. The evil spirit hurt the boy. It made him fall on the ground.

Mark 9:19–20

Jesus asked how long the evil spirit had been in the boy. The evil spirit had been in him since he was a child.

Mark 9:21

The father asked Jesus to heal the boy. Jesus told the boy’s father to have faith. Jesus said he could heal the son if the father had faith. The father began to cry. He said he had faith.

Mark 9:23–24

Jesus commanded the evil spirit to come out of the boy. Jesus told the evil spirit never to go into the boy again. The evil spirit was angry. It hurt the boy again. Then it obeyed Jesus and came out of the boy.

Mark 9:25–26

The boy was very quiet. Many people said he was dead. But Jesus knew he was not dead. Jesus took hold of the boy’s hand and helped him stand up. The boy was healed. The evil spirit was gone.

Mark 9:26–27

Later the disciples asked Jesus about the boy. They did not know why they could not make the evil spirit go out of him. Jesus told them they needed more faith to make the evil spirit go out. He said they should have fasted and prayed for faith.

Mark 9:28–29