1. Once we had reached safety we learned that the island was called Malta.
2. The natives showed us extraordinary hospitality; they lit a fire and welcomed all of us because it had begun to rain and was cold.
3. Paul had gathered a bundle of brushwood and was putting it on the fire when a viper, escaping from the heat, fastened on his hand.
4. When the natives saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “This man must certainly be a murderer; though he escaped the sea, Justice has not let him remain alive.”
5. But he shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no harm.