1 Safely ashore, we then learned that the island was called Malta.
2
The local people showed us extraordinary kindness, for they lit a fire and took us all in, since rain was falling and it was cold.
3
As Paul gathered a bundle of brushwood and put it on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself to his hand.
4
When the local people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, "This man is probably a murderer, and though he has escaped the sea, Justice[a] does not allow him to live!"
5
However, he shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm.
6
They expected that he would swell up or suddenly drop dead. But after they waited a long time and saw nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.