Acts 28 in the early church

Once we were safely ashore, we learned that the island was called Malta.

The islanders showed us extraordinary kindness. They kindled a fire and welcomed all of us because it was raining and cold.

Paul gathered a bundle of sticks, and as he laid them on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself to his hand.

When the islanders saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “Surely this man is a murderer. Although he was saved from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.”

But Paul shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no ill effects.

The islanders were expecting him to swell up or suddenly drop dead. But after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.

Nearby stood an estate belonging to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us and entertained us hospitably for three days.

The father of Publius was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him, and after praying and placing his hands on him, he healed the man.

The islanders honored us in many ways and supplied our needs when we were ready to sail.

After three months we set sail in an Alexandrian ship that had wintered in the island. It had the Twin Brothers as a figurehead.

From there we weighed anchor and came to Rhegium. After one day, a south wind came up, and on the second day we arrived at Puteoli.

When we arrived in Rome, Paul was permitted to stay by himself, with a soldier to guard him.

But we consider your views worth hearing, because we know that people everywhere are speaking against this sect.”

Some of them were convinced by what he said, but others refused to believe.

They disagreed among themselves and began to leave after Paul had made this final statement: “The Holy Spirit was right when He spoke to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet:

‘Go to this people and say, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.”

For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.’

Paul stayed there two full years in his own rented house, welcoming all who came to visit him.