Acts 27
27
Sailing for Rome
1When it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they handed Paul and some other prisoners over to a centurion named Julius, of the Augustan Cohort.
2So we boarded a ship from Adramyttium, which was about to sail to the ports along the coast of Asia, and we set out to sea—accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica.
3The next day we set down at Sidon. Julius, treating Paul kindly, let him go to his friends to receive care.
4Setting out to sea from there, we sailed under the shelter of Cyprus, because the winds were against us.
5When we had sailed across the open sea along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came down to Myra in Lysia.
6There the centurion found a ship from Alexandria sailing for Italy and put us on board.
7Sailing slowly for a number of days, with difficulty we made it to Cnidus. As the wind did not allow us to go further, we sailed under the shelter of Crete, off Salmone.
8Coasting along it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea.
9Since considerable time had passed and the voyage was already dangerous because the Fast had already gone by, Paul kept warning them,
10telling them, “Men, I can see that the voyage is about to end in disaster and great loss—not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives!”
11But the centurion was persuaded more by the pilot and the captain of the ship than by what was said by Paul.
12And because the harbor was unsuitable for wintering, the majority reached a decision to set out to sea from there—if somehow they might reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete facing northeast and southeast, and spend the winter there.
Storm and Shipwreck
13When the south wind blew gently, supposing they had obtained their purpose, they raised the anchor and started coasting along the shore by Crete.
14But before long, a hurricane-force wind called “the Northeaster” swept down from the island.
15When the ship was caught and could not face into the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along.
16As we ran under the shelter of a small island called Cauda, we were barely able to get control of the dinghy.
17When the crew had hoisted it up, they made use of ropes to undergird the ship. Then fearing they might run aground on the Syrtis, they let down the anchor and so were driven along.
18But as we were violently battered by the storm, the next day they began throwing cargo overboard.
19On the third day, they threw out the ship’s gear with their own hands.
20With neither sun nor stars appearing for many days, and no small storm pressing on us, all hope of our survival was vanishing.
21As they had long been without food, Paul stood up in their midst and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not sailed from Crete, to avoid this disaster and loss.
22Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you—but only of the ship.
23For this very night, there came to me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve.
24He said, ‘Do not fear, Paul. You must stand before Caesar; and indeed, God has granted you all who are sailing with you.’
25So take heart, men, for I trust God that it will be exactly as I have been told.
26But we must run aground on some island.”
27Now when the fourteenth night had come, as we were drifting across the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors began to sense that they were nearing some land.
28So they took soundings and found the water was twenty fathoms deep. A bit farther along, they took another sounding and found it was fifteen fathoms deep.
29Fearing that we might run aground on the rocks, they threw out four anchors from the stern. They were longing for day to come.
30Now the sailors were trying to escape from the ship and had lowered the dinghy into the sea, pretending they were going to put out anchors from the bow.
31Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men remain on the ship, you cannot be saved!”
32Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the dinghy and let it drift away.
33As day was about to dawn, Paul urged them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have kept waiting and going without food, having taken nothing.
34Therefore, I urge you to take some food—for this is for your survival, since not one of you will lose a hair from his head.”
35And when he had said these things, he took bread, gave thanks to God before them all, broke it, and began to eat.
36Then all were encouraged and took some food themselves.
37(In all we were 276 persons on the ship.)
38When they had eaten enough, they began to lighten the ship, throwing the wheat into the sea.
39Then when daylight came, they did not recognize the land; but they noticed a bay with a beach, where they planned to run the ship aground if they could.
40So they cut off the anchors and left them in the sea, while loosening the ropes of the rudders at the same time. Then, hoisting the forward sail to the wind, they made for the beach.
41But they struck a sandbar between the seas and ran the ship aground. The bow stuck fast and remained immovable, and the stern began to break up by the pounding of the waves.
42The plan of the soldiers was to kill the prisoners, so that none of them would escape by swimming away.
43But the centurion, wanting to save Paul, kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those able to swim to throw themselves overboard first and get to land—
44and the rest to get there on boards and pieces of the ship. And in this way all were brought safely to land.
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Acts 27: TLV
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