¹⁹ Behold, I have given you authority ^(A)to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of ^(B)the enemy, and ^(C)nothing shall hurt you.

^18 (A)they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; ^(B)they will lay their hands ^(C)on the sick, and they will recover.”

²² My God ^(A)sent his angel ^(B)and shut the lions' mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless ^(C)before him; ^(D)and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.”

¹⁷ But ^(A)the Lord stood by me and ^(B)strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and ^(C)all the Gentiles might hear it. So ^(D)I was rescued ^(E)from the lion's mouth.

³ When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. ⁴ When ^(A)the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, ^(B)“No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, ^(C)Justice^[a] has not allowed him to live.” ⁵ He, however, ^(D)shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. ⁶ They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, ^(E)they changed their minds and ^(F)said that he was a god.

³⁷ And David said, ^(A)“The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, ^(B)and the Lord be with you!”

The Thousand Years

20 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, ^(A)holding in his hand the key to ^(B)the bottomless pit^[a] and a great chain. ² And he seized ^(C)the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and ^(D)bound him for a thousand years,