5
No fire had power to give them light, and the brilliant stars could do nothing to relieve that deathly darkness.
6
There was only a dreadful fire, lit by no human hand, that shone on them, and in their terror they believed that the real world was even worse than the things they imagined.
7
The illusions produced by their magic tricks were put to shame, and all the wisdom they had boasted of came to nothing.
8
They had claimed they could drive away all the fears and illnesses of sick minds, but now they themselves were sick with silly, groundless fears.
9
Even though nothing dangerous had actually happened, they were terrified by hissing snakes and animals advancing on them.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.