Thematic Bible: Shaking off vipers

After we had been rescued, we learned that the island was called Malta. Now the natives showed us remarkable kindness, for they made us a fire and welcomed us to it because of the downpouring rain and the cold. Paul, too, gathered a bundle of sticks, and as he put them on the fire, because of the heat, a viper crawled out of them and fastened itself upon his hand. read more.
When the natives saw the reptile hanging from his hand, they said to one another, "Beyond a doubt this man is a murderer, for though he has been rescued from the sea, justice will not let him live." But he simply shook the reptile off into the fire and suffered no harm. The natives kept on looking for him to swell up or suddenly drop dead, but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual take place on him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.