Acts 28:1-9 ▼

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

2 The people who lived on the island were unusually kind to us. They made a fire and welcomed all of us around it because of the rain and the cold.

3 Paul gathered a bundle of brushwood and put it on the fire. The heat forced a poisonous snake out of the brushwood. The snake bit Paul's hand and wouldn't let go.

4 When the people who lived on the island saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, |This man must be a murderer! He may have escaped from the sea, but justice won't let him live.|

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

6 The people were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly drop dead. But after they had waited a long time and saw nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.

7 A man named Publius, who was the governor of the island, had property around the area. He welcomed us and treated us kindly, and for three days we were his guests.

8 His father happened to be sick in bed. He was suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went to him, prayed, placed his hands on him, and made him well.

9 After that had happened, other sick people on the island went to Paul and were made well.