ActsChapter 27

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¹It was decided that we would sail for Italy. So Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a centurion named Julius. He was part of the Emperor's Regiment. ²We got on a ship from Adramyttium. It was about to sail to ports along the coast of Asia. So we set out to sea. Aristarchus was with us. He was a Macedonian from Thessalonica. ³The next day we landed at Sidon. Julius was kind to Paul. He let Paul visit his friends so they could take care of his needs. ⁴We set out to sea again from there. The winds were against us. So we sailed close to Cyprus, on the side that blocked the wind. ⁵We sailed across the open sea along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia. Then we came to Myra in Lycia. ⁶There the centurion found a ship from Alexandria that was sailing to Italy. He put us on board. ⁷We sailed slowly for many days. At last we came near Cnidus. The wind kept us from going on. So we sailed close to Crete, on the side that blocked the wind. We went past Salmone. ⁸It was hard work to move along the coast. Then we came to a place called Fair Havens. It was near the town of Lasea. ⁹We had lost a lot of time. Sailing had now become dangerous, because the Fast was already over. So Paul gave them a warning.a ¹⁰"Men," he said, "I can see that this trip will end in disaster. We will lose a lot. We'll lose the ship and the cargo. We will lose our own lives too." ¹¹But the centurion didn't listen to Paul. He listened to the pilot and to the owner of the ship instead. ¹²The harbor was not a good place to spend the winter. So most of the men decided to sail on. They hoped to reach Phoenix somehow and spend the winter there. Phoenix was a harbor in Crete. It faced both southwest and northwest. ¹³Then a gentle south wind began to blow. They thought they had the chance they wanted. So they pulled up the anchor. They sailed along, staying close to the shore of Crete. ¹⁴But before long, a wild storm wind came down from the island. It was called the Northeaster. ¹⁵The storm caught the ship. It could not turn and face the wind. So we gave up and let the wind drive us along. ¹⁶We passed by a small island called Cauda. It blocked the wind a little. There we were barely able to make the lifeboat safe. ¹⁷The men pulled the lifeboat up on board. Then they tied ropes under the ship to hold it together. They were afraid of getting stuck on the sandbars of Syrtis. So they let down the sea anchor and let the ship be driven along. ¹⁸The storm tossed us so hard that the next day the men began to throw the cargo overboard. ¹⁹On the third day, they threw the ship's gear overboard with their own hands. ²⁰For many days we couldn't see the sun or the stars. The great storm kept beating against us. At last we gave up all hope of being saved. ²¹The men had gone a long time without food. Then Paul stood up among them. He said, "Men, you should have listened to me. You should not have sailed from Crete. Then you would have escaped this damage and loss. ²²But now I beg you to be brave, because not one of you will lose your life. Only the ship will be lost. ²³Last night an angel stood beside me. He came from the God I belong to and serve. ²⁴The angel said, 'Don't be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar. And look! God has given you the lives of everyone sailing with you.' ²⁵So be brave, men! I trust God. It will happen just as he told me. ²⁶But we must run aground on some island." ²⁷On the fourteenth night, the storm was still driving us across the Adriatic Sea. At about midnight, the sailors felt that we were getting close to land. ²⁸They dropped a weighted line to measure how deep the water was. It was 120 feet deep. A little later they measured again. This time it was 90 feet deep.b ²⁹They were afraid we would crash on the rocks. So they dropped four anchors from the back of the ship. Then they prayed for morning to come. ³⁰Meanwhile, the sailors tried to escape from the ship. They let the lifeboat down into the sea. They pretended they were going to put out anchors from the front of the ship. ³¹But Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, "These men must stay with the ship. If they don't, you can't be saved." ³²So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat. They let it drift away. ³³Just before dawn, Paul kept begging them all to eat. "For fourteen days you have been waiting and worrying," he said. "You have gone without food all this time. ³⁴So I beg you to eat something. You need it to stay alive. Eat, because not one hair on your heads will be lost." ³⁵After Paul said this, he took some bread. He thanked God for it in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat. ³⁶This gave them all new hope. So they ate some food too. ³⁷There were 276 of us on the ship in all. ³⁸The men ate all they wanted. Then they made the ship lighter by throwing the grain into the sea. ³⁹When daylight came, they didn't know what land it was. But they saw a bay with a sandy beach. They decided to run the ship onto the beach if they could. ⁴⁰They cut the anchors loose and left them in the sea. At the same time, they untied the ropes that held the rudders. Then they raised the front sail to catch the wind. And they headed for the beach. ⁴¹But the ship hit a sandbar and got stuck. The front of the ship stuck fast and would not move. The back of the ship was being broken to pieces by the pounding waves. ⁴²The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners. They didn't want any of them to swim away and escape. ⁴³But the centurion wanted to save Paul's life. So he stopped them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. ⁴⁴The rest were to follow on boards or on pieces of the ship. In this way everyone made it safely to land.