1When we were all safe, we learned that the island was called Melita.
2The local people showed us great kindness. It was raining and it was cold, so they lit a fire and welcomed every one of us.
3Paul gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire. A viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand.
4When the local people saw the poisonous creature hanging from his hand, they said to each other, "No doubt this man is a murderer. He escaped from the sea, but justice will not let him live."
5But Paul shook the creature off into the fire, and he felt no harm.
6They waited for him to swell up, or to fall down dead all at once. They watched for a long time, and saw that nothing bad happened to him. Then they changed their minds and said that he was a god.
7Nearby were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, whose name was Publius. He welcomed us and kindly gave us a place to stay for three days.
8The father of Publius was lying sick with a fever and with bloody diarrhoea. Paul went in to him, prayed, laid his hands on him, and healed him.
9After this happened, the other people on the island who had diseases came too, and they were healed.
10They honoured us in many ways. When we left, they loaded us with the things we needed.
11After three months we sailed away in a ship from Alexandria that had spent the winter at the island. Its sign was Castor and Pollux.
12We landed at Syracuse and stayed there three days.
13From there we sailed round and came to Rhegium. After one day the south wind began to blow, and the next day we came to Puteoli.
14There we found brothers and sisters, and they asked us to stay with them seven days. And so we went on toward Rome.
15When the brothers and sisters there heard about us, they came out to meet us as far as the Market of Appius and The Three Taverns. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.
16When we came to Rome, the centurion handed the prisoners over to the captain of the guard. But Paul was allowed to live by himself, with a soldier who guarded him.
17Three days later Paul called together the leaders of the Jews. When they had come together, he said to them, "Men and brothers, I have done nothing against our people or against the customs of our fathers. Even so, I was handed over as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans."
18"When they had questioned me, they wanted to let me go, because there was no reason to put me to death."
19"But when the Jews spoke against it, I was forced to appeal to Caesar. It was not that I had anything to accuse my own nation of."
20"That is why I have asked to see you and to speak with you. It is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain."
21They said to him, "We have not received any letters about you from Judaea. None of the brothers who came here has reported or said anything bad about you."
22"But we want to hear from you what you think. We know that people everywhere speak against this group."
23So they set a day for him, and many came to him at the place where he was staying. From morning till evening he explained the matter to them and told them about the kingdom of God. He tried to persuade them about Jesus, both from the law of Moses and from the prophets.
24Some believed what he said, and some did not believe.
25They did not agree among themselves, and they began to leave. Then Paul said one more thing: "The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to our fathers through Isaiah the prophet."
26"He said, 'Go to this people and say: You will hear and hear, and never understand. You will look and look, and never see."
27"'For the heart of this people has grown hard. Their ears hardly hear, and they have shut their eyes. Otherwise they would see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and turn back, and I would heal them.'"
28"So know this: the salvation of God is sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen to it."
29When he had said these words, the Jews left, arguing much among themselves.
30Paul lived for two whole years in his own rented house, and he welcomed everyone who came to him.
31He preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ, speaking boldly, and no one stopped him.