Acts 28:1-6 ▼

1 When they had been brought safely through, then we found out that the island was called Malta.

2 The natives showed us extraordinary kindness, for they kindled a fire and took us all in because of the rain that had started and because of the cold.

3 But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand.

4 When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they began saying to one another, “Undoubtedly this man is a murderer, and though he has been saved from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.”

5 However, Paul shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm.

6 Now they were expecting that he was going to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had waited a long time and had seen nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and began to say that he was a god.