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.
10. They showed respect for us in many ways, and when we were going to set sail, they put whatever we needed on board.
11. After three months we sailed on an Alexandrian ship that had spent the winter at the island. The ship had the gods Castor and Pollux carved on its front.
12. We stopped at the city of Syracuse and stayed there for three days.
13. We sailed from Syracuse and arrived at the city of Rhegium. The next day a south wind began to blow, and two days later we arrived at the city of Puteoli.
14. In Puteoli we discovered some believers who begged us to spend a week with them.
15. Believers in Rome heard that we were coming, so they came as far as the cities of Appius’ Market and Three Taverns to meet us. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and felt encouraged. So we finally arrived in the city of Rome.