Thematic Bible: Shaking off vipers

It was only after our escape that we found out the island was called Malta. The natives showed us uncommon kindness, for they lit a fire and welcomed us all to it, as the rain had come on and it was chilly. Now Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, when a viper crawled out with the heat and fastened on his hand. read more.
When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to each other, "This man must be a murderer! He has escaped the sea, but Justice will not let him live." However, he shook off the creature into the fire and was not a whit the worse. The natives waited for him to swell up or drop down dead in a moment, but after waiting a long while and observing that no harm had befallen him, they changed their minds and declared he was a god.