Acts 27

1¶ But when it was determined that we should sail unto Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners unto one named Julius, a centurion of the Augustus company.

2And entering into the ship, Adramyttium, we launched, meaning to sail by the coasts of Asia, one Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us.

3And the next day we touched at Sidon. And Julius courteously entreated Paul and gave him liberty to go unto his friends to refresh himself.

4And when we had launched from there, we sailed under Cyprus because the winds were contrary.

5And when we had sailed over the sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia.

6And there the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing into Italy, and he put us in it.

7And when we had sailed slowly many days and scarce were come over against Cnidus, the wind not allowing us, we sailed under Crete, over against Salmone,

8and, passing it with difficulty, came unto a place which is called The Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea.

9Now when much time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was now already past, Paul admonished them,

10saying, Sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage, not only of the lading and ship, but also of our lives.

11Nevertheless the centurion believed the master and the owner of the ship more than those things which were spoken by Paul.

12¶ And because the haven was not commodious to winter in, many were in agreement to depart from there also, if by any means they might attain to Phenice and winter there, which is a port of Crete and lies toward Africa and the west.

13And when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, raising sails, they sailed close by Crete.

14But not long after, there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon. {devastating cold north wind from Europe}

15And when the ship was caught up by it and could not resist against the wind, the ship was taken by the wind and drifted.

16And running under a certain island which is called Clauda, we had much work to come by the boat,

17Which when they had taken up, they used helps, undergirding the ship; and, fearing lest they should fall into Syrtis, {or the sandbanks} struck sail and so were driven.

18And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship;

19and the third day with our own hands we cast off the dead works of the ship.

20And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then lost.

21¶ Then after long abstinence, Paul stood forth in the midst of them and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me and not have loosed from Crete to have avoided this harm and loss.

22And now I exhort you to be of good cheer, for there shall be no loss of any person’s life among you, but only of the ship.

23For the angel of God stood by me this night, whose I am and whom I serve,

24saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar; and, behold, God has given thee all those that sail with thee.

25Therefore, sirs, be of good cheer; for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.

26However we must be cast upon a certain island.

27And when the fourteenth night was come as we were driven up and down in the Adriatic sea, about midnight the shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country

28and sounded and found it twenty fathoms; and when they had gone a little further, they sounded again and found it fifteen fathoms.

29Then fearing lest we should fall upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern and wished for the day.

30And as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship, when they had let down the boat into the sea, under colour as though they would have cast anchors out of the foreship,

31Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved.

32Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat and let her fall off.

33And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take food, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye have waited and continued fasting, having taken nothing.

34Therefore I pray you to take some food, for this is for your salvation and health, for there shall not one hair fall from the head of any of you.

35And when he had thus spoken, he took bread and gave thanks to God in presence of them all; and when he had broken it, he began to eat.

36Then they were all of good cheer, and they also took some food.

37And we were in all, in the ship, two hundred and seventy-six souls.

38And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship and cast out the grain into the sea.

39And when it was day, they did not recognize the land, but they discovered a certain gulf with a shore, into which they decided, if it were possible, to thrust in the ship.

40And when they had taken up the anchors, they committed themselves unto the sea and loosed the rudder bands and hoisted up the mainsail to the wind and made toward shore.

41But falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the forepart stuck fast and remained unmovable, but the hinder part was broken with the violence of the waves.

42And the soldiers’ counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out and escape.

43But the centurion, desiring to save Paul, frustrated this counsel and commanded that those who could swim should cast themselves first into the sea and get to land;

44and the rest, some on boards and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass that they were all saved by making it to land.

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Acts 27: JUB

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Acts 27

Paul Sails for Rome

1It was decided that we would sail for Italy. Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a Roman commander named Julius. He belonged to the Imperial Guard. 2We boarded a ship from Adramyttium. It was about to sail for ports along the coast of Asia Minor. We headed out to sea. Aristarchus was with us. He was a Macedonian from Thessalonica.

3The next day we landed at Sidon. There Julius was kind to Paul. He let Paul visit his friends so they could give him what he needed. 4From there we headed out to sea again. We passed the calmer side of Cyprus because the winds were against us. 5We sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia. Then we landed at Myra in Lycia. 6There the commander found a ship from Alexandria sailing for Italy. He put us on board. 7We moved along slowly for many days. We had trouble getting to Cnidus. The wind did not let us stay on course. So we passed the calmer side of Crete, opposite Salmone. 8It was not easy to sail along the coast. Then we came to a place called Fair Havens. It was near the town of Lasea.

9A lot of time had passed. Sailing had already become dangerous. By now it was after the Day of Atonement, a day of fasting. So Paul gave them a warning. 10“Men,” he said, “I can see that our trip is going to be dangerous. The ship and everything in it will be lost. Our own lives will be in danger also.” 11But the commander didn’t listen to what Paul said. Instead, he followed the advice of the pilot and the ship’s owner. 12The harbor wasn’t a good place for ships to stay during winter. So most of the people decided we should sail on. They hoped we would reach Phoenix. They wanted to spend the winter there. Phoenix was a harbor in Crete. It faced both southwest and northwest.

The Storm

13A gentle south wind began to blow. The ship’s crew thought they saw their chance to leave safely. So they pulled up the anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. 14Before very long, a wind blew down from the island. It had the force of a hurricane. It was called the Northeaster. 15The ship was caught by the storm. We could not keep it sailing into the wind. So we gave up and were driven along by the wind. 16We passed the calmer side of a small island called Cauda. We almost lost the lifeboat that was tied to the side of the ship. 17So the men lifted the lifeboat on board. Then they tied ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. They were afraid it would get stuck on the sandbars of Syrtis. So they lowered the sea anchor and let the ship be driven along. 18We took a very bad beating from the storm. The next day the crew began to throw the ship’s contents overboard. 19On the third day, they even threw the ship’s tools and supplies overboard with their own hands. 20The sun and stars didn’t appear for many days. The storm was terrible. So we gave up all hope of being saved.

21The men had not eaten for a long time. Paul stood up in front of them. “Men,” he said, “you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete. Then you would have avoided this harm and loss. 22Now I beg you to be brave. Not one of you will die. Only the ship will be destroyed. 23I belong to God and serve him. Last night his angel stood beside me. 24The angel said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must go on trial in front of Caesar. God has shown his grace by sparing the lives of all those sailing with you.’ 25Men, continue to be brave. I have faith in God. It will happen just as he told me. 26But we must run the ship onto the beach of some island.”

The Ship Is Destroyed

27On the 14th night the wind was still pushing us across the Adriatic Sea. About midnight the sailors had a feeling that they were approaching land. 28They measured how deep the water was. They found that it was 120 feet deep. A short time later they measured the water again. This time it was 90 feet deep. 29They were afraid we would crash against the rocks. So they dropped four anchors from the back of the ship. They prayed that daylight would come. 30The sailors wanted to escape from the ship. So they let the lifeboat down into the sea. They pretended they were going to lower some anchors from the front of the ship. 31But Paul spoke to the commander and the soldiers. “These men must stay with the ship,” he said. “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 tried to get them all to eat. “For the last 14 days,” he said, “you have wondered what would happen. You have gone without food. You haven’t eaten anything. 34Now I am asking you to eat some food. You need it to live. Not one of you will lose a single hair from your head.” 35After Paul said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God. He did this where they all could see him. Then he broke it and began to eat. 36All of them were filled with hope. So they ate some food. 37There were 276 of us on board. 38They ate as much as they wanted. They needed to make the ship lighter. So they threw the rest of the grain into the sea.

39When daylight came, they saw a bay with a sandy beach. They didn’t recognize the place. But they decided to run the ship onto the beach if they could. 40So they cut the anchors loose and left them in the sea. At the same time, they untied the ropes that held the rudders. They lifted the sail at the front of the ship to the wind. Then they headed for the beach. 41But the ship hit a sandbar. So the front of it got stuck and wouldn’t move. The back of the ship was broken to pieces by the pounding of the waves.

42The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners. They wanted to keep them from swimming away and escaping. 43But the commander wanted to save Paul’s life. So he kept the soldiers from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and swim to land. 44The rest were supposed to get there on boards or other pieces of the ship. That is how everyone reached land safely.

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