Acts 28:1-10

New Catholic Bible

Chapter 28

Paul at Malta. ¹ Once we had made our way to safety, we learned that the island was called Malta.^{[a] 2} The natives^[b] treated us with unusual kindness. Since it had begun to rain and was cold, they lit a bonfire and welcomed all of us around it.

³ Paul had gathered an armful of sticks and put them on the fire when a viper, driven out by the heat, attached itself to his hand. ⁴ On seeing the snake hanging from his hand, the natives said to one another, “This man must be a murderer. Although he escaped from the sea, Justice^[c] has not allowed him to live.”

⁵ However, he shook off the snake into the fire and suffered no harm. ⁶ They were expecting him to swell up or drop dead, but after waiting for a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and began to say that he was a god.

⁷ In the vicinity of that place there were lands belonging to the leading man of the island, whose name was Publius.^[d] He received us and gave us his hospitality for three days. ⁸ It so happened that this man’s father was sick with a fever and dysentery. Paul visited him and cured him by praying and laying hands on him. ⁹ After this happened, the rest of the sick people on the island also came and were cured. ¹⁰ They honored us with many marks of respect, and when we were about to set sail, they put on board all the supplies we needed.