Acts 28:1-9 ▼

1 When we were safely on shore, we learned that the island was called Malta.

2 The people who lived there were unusually kind to us. It had started to rain and was cold, so they started a bonfire and invited us to join them around it.

3 Paul gathered a bundle of sticks and put it on the fire. A poisonous snake was forced out by the heat and attached itself to Paul's hand.

4 When the people who lived there saw the snake hanging from his hand, they told one another, |This man must be a murderer! He may have escaped from the sea, but Justice won't let him live.|

5 But he shook the snake into the fire and wasn't harmed.

6 They were expecting him to swell up or suddenly drop dead, but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.

7 The governor of the island, whose name was Publius, owned estates in that part of the island. He welcomed us and entertained us with great hospitality for three days.

8 The father of Publius happened to be sick in bed with fever and dysentery. Paul went to him, prayed, and healed him by placing his hands on him.

9 After that had happened, the rest of the sick people on the island went to him and were healed.