¹⁸ they will pick up snakes^(A) with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on^(B) sick people, and they will get well.”

¹⁹ I have given you authority to trample on snakes^(A) and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.

¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders^(A) of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil^(B) in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer offered in faith^(C) will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.

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)

¹² so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured^(A) and the evil spirits left them.