Acts 28:1–10

MALTA’S HOSPITALITY

28Once safely ashore, we^f then learned that the island was called Malta.^{g 2}The local people^h showed us extraordinary kindness. They lit a fire and took us all in, since it was raining and cold. ³As Paul gathered a bundle of brushwood and put it on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand. ⁴When the local people saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “This man, no doubt, is a murderer. Even though he has escaped the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.”^{i 5}But he shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no harm.^{j 6}They expected that he would begin to swell up or suddenly drop dead. After they waited a long time and saw nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.^k

MINISTRY IN MALTA

⁷Now in the area around that place was an estate belonging to the leading man of the island, named Publius, who welcomed us and entertained us hospitably for three days. ⁸Publius’s father was in bed suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went to him, and praying and laying his hands on him, he healed him.^{l 9}After this, the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were healed. ¹⁰So they heaped many honors on us, and when we sailed, they gave us what we needed.