1. Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta.
2. The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold.
3. Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand.
4. When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, "This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live."
5. But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects.