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,^(A) 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.”^{(B) 5} But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects.^{(C) 6} The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead; but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.^(D)

⁷ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers!^(A) Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?^(B)

⁶ A prophecy^(A) concerning the animals of the Negev:^(B)