JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A man says two small Bibles in his shirt pocket saved his life when they kept a bullet from hitting him.

The 54-year-old Orange Park man, whose name was withheld because his attackers were still at large, told police that two men ambushed him with a rifle as he carried bags of garbage to a trash bin.

The man said he was carrying two New Testament Bibles in his shirt pocket to give to friends and they stopped a bullet that otherwise would have torn into his body.

The men fled in opposite directions and have not been arrested, police said.

Other than a red mark and a pain in his chest, the man was not injured, The Florida Times-Union reported Tues-day.

Police took the Bibles as evidence.