they shall take up serpents And so we read of St Paul shaking off the viper at Malta (Acts 28:5). Comp. Luke 10:19.

and if they drink As is related of St John that he drank the cup of hemlock which was intended to cause his death, and suffered no harm from it, and of Barsabas surnamed Justus (Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. iii. 39).

they shall lay hands on the sick As St Peter did on the lame man at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple (Acts 3:7), and St Paul on Publius in the island of Malta (Acts 28:8). "Gifts of healing" are mentioned both by this last Apostle (1 Corinthians 12:9) and by St James (Mark 5:14-15) as remaining in the Church.

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