Acts 28:3-8

International Children’s Bible

³ Paul gathered a pile of sticks for the fire. He was putting them on the fire when a poisonous snake came out because of the heat and bit him on the hand. ⁴ The people living on the island saw the snake hanging from Paul’s hand. They said to each other, “This man must be a murderer! He did not die in the sea, but Justice^[a] does not want him to live.” ⁵ But Paul shook the snake off into the fire. He was not hurt. ⁶ The people thought that Paul would swell up or fall down dead. The people waited and watched him for a long time, but nothing bad happened to him. So they changed their minds about Paul. Now they said, “He is a god!”

⁷ There were some fields around there owned by a very important man on the island. His name was Publius. He welcomed us into his home and was very good to us. We stayed in his house for three days. ⁸ Publius’ father was very sick with a fever and dysentery.^[b] But Paul went to him and prayed. Then he put his hands on the man and healed him.