¹⁵ On the day the Tabernacle was raised the Cloud covered it; and that evening the Cloud changed to the appearance of fire, and stayed that way throughout the night. ¹⁶ It was always so—the daytime Cloud changing to the appearance of fire at night. ¹⁷ When the Cloud lifted, the people of Israel moved on to wherever it stopped, and camped there. ¹⁸ In this way they journeyed at the command of the Lord and stopped where he told them to, then remained there as long as the Cloud stayed. ¹⁹ If it stayed a long time, then they stayed a long time. But if it stayed only a few days, then they remained only a few days; for so the Lord had instructed them. ^20-21 Sometimes the fire-cloud stayed only during the night and moved on the next morning. But day or night, when it moved, the people broke camp and followed. ²² If the Cloud stayed above the Tabernacle two days, a month, or a year, that is how long the people of Israel stayed; but as soon as it moved, they moved. ²³ So it was that they camped or traveled at the commandment of the Lord; and whatever the Lord told Moses they should do, they did.

³ As Paul gathered an armful of sticks to lay on the fire, a poisonous snake, driven out by the heat, fastened itself onto his hand! ⁴ The people of the island saw it hanging there and said to each other, “A murderer, no doubt! Though he escaped the sea, justice will not permit him to live!”

⁵ But Paul shook off the snake into the fire and was unharmed.

³⁰ Paul lived for the next two years in his rented house^[a] and welcomed all who visited him, ³¹ telling them with all boldness about the Kingdom of God and about the Lord Jesus Christ; and no one tried to stop him.