Acts 27
27
1When it was determined that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners to a centurion named Julius, of the Augustan band. 2Embarking in a ship of Adramyttium, which was about to sail to places on the coast of Asia, we put to sea, Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica being with us. 3The next day, we touched at Sidon. Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him permission to go to his friends and refresh himself. 4Putting to sea from there, we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were contrary. 5When we had sailed across the sea which is off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia. 6There the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing for Italy, and he put us on board. 7When we had sailed slowly many days, and had come with difficulty opposite Cnidus, the wind not allowing us further, we sailed under the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone. 8With difficulty sailing along it we came to a certain place called Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea.
9When much time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous because the Fast had now already gone by, Paul admonished them 10and said to them, “Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.” 11But the centurion gave more heed to the master and to the owner of the ship than to those things which were spoken by Paul. 12Because the haven was not suitable to winter in, the majority advised going to sea from there, if by any means they could reach Phoenix and winter there, which is a port of Crete, looking southwest and northwest.
13When the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, close to shore. 14But before long, a stormy wind beat down from shore, which is called Euroclydon.#27:14 Or, “a northeaster”. 15When the ship was caught and couldn’t face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along. 16Running under the lee of a small island called Clauda, we were able, with difficulty, to secure the boat. 17After they had hoisted it up, they used cables to help reinforce the ship. Fearing that they would run aground on the Syrtis sand bars, they lowered the sea anchor, and so were driven along. 18As we labored exceedingly with the storm, the next day they began to throw things overboard. 19On the third day, they threw out the ship’s tackle with their own hands. 20When neither sun nor stars shone on us for many days, and no small storm pressed on us, all hope that we would be saved was now taken away.
21When they had been long without food, Paul stood up in the middle of them and said, “Sirs, you should have listened to me, and not have set sail from Crete and have gotten this injury and loss. 22Now I exhort you to cheer up, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 23For there stood by me this night an angel, belonging to the God whose I am and whom I serve, 24saying, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul. You must stand before Caesar. Behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ 25Therefore, sirs, cheer up! For I believe God, that it will be just as it has been spoken to me. 26But we must run aground on a certain island.”
27But when the fourteenth night had come, as we were driven back and forth in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors surmised that they were drawing near to some land. 28They took soundings and found twenty fathoms.#27:28 20 fathoms = 120 feet = 36.6 meters After a little while, they took soundings again, and found fifteen fathoms.#27:28 15 fathoms = 90 feet = 27.4 meters 29Fearing that we would run aground on rocky ground, they let go four anchors from the stern, and wished for daylight. 30As the sailors were trying to flee out of the ship and had lowered the boat into the sea, pretending that they would lay out anchors from the bow, 31Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, “Unless these stay in the ship, you can’t be saved.” 32Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the boat and let it fall off.
33While the day was coming on, Paul begged them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you wait and continue fasting, having taken nothing. 34Therefore I beg you to take some food, for this is for your safety; for not a hair will perish from any of your heads.” 35When he had said this and had taken bread, he gave thanks to God in the presence of all; then he broke it and began to eat. 36Then they all cheered up, and they also took food. 37In all, we were two hundred seventy-six souls on the ship. 38When they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea. 39When it was day, they didn’t recognize the land, but they noticed a certain bay with a beach, and they decided to try to drive the ship onto it. 40Casting off the anchors, they left them in the sea, at the same time untying the rudder ropes. Hoisting up the foresail to the wind, they made for the beach. 41But coming to a place where two seas met, they ran the vessel aground. The bow struck and remained immovable, but the stern began to break up by the violence of the waves.
42The soldiers’ counsel was to kill the prisoners, so that none of them would swim out and escape. 43But the centurion, desiring to save Paul, stopped them from their purpose, and commanded that those who could swim should throw themselves overboard first to go toward the land; 44and the rest should follow, some on planks and some on other things from the ship. So they all escaped safely to the land.
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Acts 27: WEBUS
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Acts of the Apostles 27
27
Paul Sails for Rome
1When the time came, we set sail for Italy. Paul and several other prisoners were placed in the custody of a Roman officer#27:1 Greek centurion; similarly in 27:6, 11, 31, 43. named Julius, a captain of the Imperial Regiment. 2Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was also with us. We left on a ship whose home port was Adramyttium on the northwest coast of the province of Asia;#27:2 Asia was a Roman province in what is now western Turkey. it was scheduled to make several stops at ports along the coast of the province.
3The next day when we docked at Sidon, Julius was very kind to Paul and let him go ashore to visit with friends so they could provide for his needs. 4Putting out to sea from there, we encountered strong headwinds that made it difficult to keep the ship on course, so we sailed north of Cyprus between the island and the mainland. 5Keeping to the open sea, we passed along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, landing at Myra, in the province of Lycia. 6There the commanding officer found an Egyptian ship from Alexandria that was bound for Italy, and he put us on board.
7We had several days of slow sailing, and after great difficulty we finally neared Cnidus. But the wind was against us, so we sailed across to Crete and along the sheltered coast of the island, past the cape of Salmone. 8We struggled along the coast with great difficulty and finally arrived at Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea. 9We had lost a lot of time. The weather was becoming dangerous for sea travel because it was so late in the fall,#27:9 Greek because the fast was now already gone by. This fast was associated with the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), which occurred in late September or early October. and Paul spoke to the ship’s officers about it.
10“Men,” he said, “I believe there is trouble ahead if we go on—shipwreck, loss of cargo, and danger to our lives as well.” 11But the officer in charge of the prisoners listened more to the ship’s captain and the owner than to Paul. 12And since Fair Havens was an exposed harbor—a poor place to spend the winter—most of the crew wanted to go on to Phoenix, farther up the coast of Crete, and spend the winter there. Phoenix was a good harbor with only a southwest and northwest exposure.
The Storm at Sea
13When a light wind began blowing from the south, the sailors thought they could make it. So they pulled up anchor and sailed close to the shore of Crete. 14But the weather changed abruptly, and a wind of typhoon strength (called a “northeaster”) burst across the island and blew us out to sea. 15The sailors couldn’t turn the ship into the wind, so they gave up and let it run before the gale.
16We sailed along the sheltered side of a small island named Cauda,#27:16 Some manuscripts read Clauda. where with great difficulty we hoisted aboard the lifeboat being towed behind us. 17Then the sailors bound ropes around the hull of the ship to strengthen it. They were afraid of being driven across to the sandbars of Syrtis off the African coast, so they lowered the sea anchor to slow the ship and were driven before the wind.
18The next day, as gale-force winds continued to batter the ship, the crew began throwing the cargo overboard. 19The following day they even took some of the ship’s gear and threw it overboard. 20The terrible storm raged for many days, blotting out the sun and the stars, until at last all hope was gone.
21No one had eaten for a long time. Finally, Paul called the crew together and said, “Men, you should have listened to me in the first place and not left Crete. You would have avoided all this damage and loss. 22But take courage! None of you will lose your lives, even though the ship will go down. 23For last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me, 24and he said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul, for you will surely stand trial before Caesar! What’s more, God in his goodness has granted safety to everyone sailing with you.’ 25So take courage! For I believe God. It will be just as he said. 26But we will be shipwrecked on an island.”
The Shipwreck
27About midnight on the fourteenth night of the storm, as we were being driven across the Sea of Adria,#27:27 The Sea of Adria includes the central portion of the Mediterranean. the sailors sensed land was near. 28They dropped a weighted line and found that the water was 120 feet deep. But a little later they measured again and found it was only 90 feet deep.#27:28 Greek 20 fathoms . . . 15 fathoms [37 meters . . . 27 meters]. 29At this rate they were afraid we would soon be driven against the rocks along the shore, so they threw out four anchors from the back of the ship and prayed for daylight.
30Then the sailors tried to abandon the ship; they lowered the lifeboat as though they were going to put out anchors from the front of the ship. 31But Paul said to the commanding officer and the soldiers, “You will all die unless the sailors stay aboard.” 32So the soldiers cut the ropes to the lifeboat and let it drift away.
33Just as day was dawning, Paul urged everyone to eat. “You have been so worried that you haven’t touched food for two weeks,” he said. 34“Please eat something now for your own good. For not a hair of your heads will perish.” 35Then he took some bread, gave thanks to God before them all, and broke off a piece and ate it. 36Then everyone was encouraged and began to eat— 37all 276 of us who were on board. 38After eating, the crew lightened the ship further by throwing the cargo of wheat overboard.
39When morning dawned, they didn’t recognize the coastline, but they saw a bay with a beach and wondered if they could get to shore by running the ship aground. 40So they cut off the anchors and left them in the sea. Then they lowered the rudders, raised the foresail, and headed toward shore. 41But they hit a shoal and ran the ship aground too soon. The bow of the ship stuck fast, while the stern was repeatedly smashed by the force of the waves and began to break apart.
42The soldiers wanted to kill the prisoners to make sure they didn’t swim ashore and escape. 43But the commanding officer wanted to spare Paul, so he didn’t let them carry out their plan. Then he ordered all who could swim to jump overboard first and make for land. 44The others held on to planks or debris from the broken ship.#27:44 Or or were helped by members of the ship’s crew. So everyone escaped safely to shore.
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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