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Acts 28

Acts ends with Paul still under guard, yet teaching about Jesus without hindrance as God’s salvation reaches the nations.

After escaping the shipwreck, Paul and his companions reach Malta, where the islanders welcome them with a fire. Paul survives a viper’s bite, prays for Publius’s sick father, and heals him; others come and are cured. Three months later, Paul travels on to Rome under guard. There he explains his imprisonment to Jewish leaders and teaches about Jesus from the Scriptures. Their response divides, and Acts closes with Paul receiving visitors and proclaiming God’s Kingdom from his rented house.

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1When we had escaped, then they learned that the island was called Malta.
2The natives showed us uncommon kindness; for they kindled a fire and received us all, because of the present rain and because of the cold.
3But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand.
4When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped from the sea, yet Justice has not allowed to live.”
5However he shook off the creature into the fire, and wasn’t harmed.
6But they expected that he would have swollen or fallen down dead suddenly, but when they watched for a long time and saw nothing bad happen to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.
7Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us and courteously entertained us for three days.
8The father of Publius lay sick of fever and dysentery. Paul entered in to him, prayed, and laying his hands on him, healed him.
9Then when this was done, the rest also who had diseases in the island came and were cured.
10They also honored us with many honors; and when we sailed, they put on board the things that we needed.
11After three months, we set sail in a ship of Alexandria which had wintered in the island, whose figurehead was “The Twin Brothers.”
14where we found brothers, and were entreated to stay with them for seven days. So we came to Rome.
15From there the brothers, when they heard of us, came 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 entered into Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard, but Paul was allowed to stay by himself with the soldier who guarded him.
17After three days Paul called together those who were the leaders of the Jews. When they had come together, he said to them, “I, brothers, though I had done nothing against the people or the customs of our fathers, still was delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans,
18who, when they had examined me, desired to set me free, because there was no cause of death in me.
19But when the Jews spoke against it, I was constrained to appeal to Caesar, not that I had anything about which to accuse my nation.
20For this cause therefore I asked to see you and to speak with you. For because of the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.”
21They said to him, “We neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor did any of the brothers come here and report or speak any evil of you.
22But we desire to hear from you what you think. For, as concerning this sect, it is known to us that everywhere it is spoken against.”
23When they had appointed him a day, many people came to him at his lodging. He explained to them, testifying about God’s Kingdom, and persuading them concerning Jesus, both from the law of Moses and from the prophets, from morning until evening.
24Some believed the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved.
25When they didn’t agree among themselves, they departed after Paul had spoken one message: “The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers,
26saying, ‘Go to this people and say, in hearing, you will hear, but will in no way understand. In seeing, you will see, but will in no way perceive.
27For this people’s heart has grown callous. Their ears are dull of hearing. Their eyes they have closed. Lest they should see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and would turn again, then I would heal them.’
28“Be it known therefore to you that the salvation of God is sent to the nations, and they will listen.”
30Paul stayed two whole years in his own rented house and received all who were coming to him,
31preaching God’s Kingdom and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, without hindrance.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Acts 28:23Paul’s daylong explanation places Jesus and God’s Kingdom within the witness of the law of Moses and the prophets.
Acts 28:25Paul identifies the Holy Spirit as the speaker through Isaiah, bringing prophetic authority to his response to divided hearers.
Acts 28:26Isaiah’s warning names the gap between hearing God’s message and understanding it, framing the resistance Paul encounters in Rome.
Where this chapter reaches

Paul quotes Isaiah’s warning about hearing without understanding, a passage also used in Matthew and Mark to describe resistance to God’s message. Romans shares this chapter’s concern with Israel’s response and God’s salvation reaching the nations, while preserving the distinction between belief and unbelief.

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After reading the whole chapter

What do the islanders’ changing judgments about Paul reveal about interpreting someone’s suffering?

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What stands out to you about Paul’s guarded life alongside the closing words, “without hindrance”?

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Questions people ask about Acts 28

Why did the people of Malta think Paul was a god?

The islanders first assumed the viper’s bite meant Paul was a murderer facing punishment. When he suffered no harm after they had watched for a long time, they reversed their judgment and called him a god. The account reports their conclusion without endorsing it.

Why does Paul quote Isaiah in Acts 28?

Paul quotes Isaiah after his hearers divide over his teaching about Jesus. The quotation describes people who hear and see yet fail to understand because their hearts have grown callous. Paul then announces salvation’s extension to the nations. The passage also states that some of his Jewish hearers believed.

Why does Acts end with Paul still in Rome?

Acts records two years of Paul receiving visitors in a rented house while under guard. It does not report the outcome of his appeal to Caesar or explain why the account stops there. Its final emphasis is his freedom to proclaim God’s Kingdom and teach about the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).