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ActsChapter 28

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Once we were safely ashore, we learned that the island was called Malta.
The local people showed us extraordinary kindness. They kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain and it was cold.
Paul had gathered an armful of brushwood and was laying it on the fire when a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand.
When the islanders saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, "This man must be a murderer. He escaped the sea, but Justice has not let him live."
But Paul shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm.
They expected him to swell up or suddenly drop dead, but after waiting a long time and seeing that nothing was wrong with him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.
Nearby were estates belonging to the leading man of the island, named Publius, who took us in and entertained us hospitably for three days.
It happened that the father of Publius was in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to him, prayed, laid his hands on him, and healed him.
After this, the rest of the sick on the island kept coming to him and were cured.
They honored us in many ways, and when we set sail they supplied us with everything we needed.
After three months we put out to sea in an Alexandrian ship that had wintered at the island, with the Twin Brothers as its figurehead.
We put in at Syracuse and stayed there three days.
From there we weighed anchor and came to Rhegium. A day later a south wind came up, and on the second day we reached Puteoli,
where we found brothers who invited us to stay with them for seven days. And so we came to Rome.
The brothers there had heard about us, and they came out as far as the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns to meet us. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.
When we entered Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself, with the soldier who guarded him.
Three days later he called together the leading men of the Jews. When they had assembled, he said to them: "Brothers, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, I was handed over as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.
They examined me and wanted to release me, because there was no ground for a death sentence in my case.
But when the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar—not that I had any charge to bring against my own nation.
That is why I asked to see you and speak with you. It is because of the hope of Israel that I am wearing this chain."
They answered him, "We have received no letters about you from Judea, and none of the brothers who have come here has reported or said anything bad about you.
But we would like to hear from you what you think, for we know that this sect is spoken against everywhere."
So they set a day for him, and they came to him at his lodging in even greater numbers. From morning until evening he laid out his case, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and the Prophets.
Some were convinced by what he said, but others would not believe.
They disagreed among themselves and began to leave, after Paul had made this one statement: "The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your fathers through the prophet Isaiah when he said:
'Go to this people and say: You will listen and listen, but never understand; you will look and look, but never see.
For the heart of this people has grown dull; they hear with difficulty, and they have shut their eyes—so that they may not see with their eyes, or hear with their ears, or understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.'
Therefore know this: God's salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen."
When he had said this, the Jews left, arguing heatedly among themselves.
Paul stayed there two whole years in his own rented quarters, and he welcomed all who came to him,
proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with complete boldness, and without hindrance.
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