Paul Sets Sail for Rome
Paul warns against sailing on, and is overruled. A northeaster drives the ship fourteen days until everyone gives up hope. He tells them an angel of our Father promised every life, then hands around bread. The ship breaks apart on a sandbar, and all 276 reach shore.
27 1Once it was decided we would sail to Italy, they handed Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion named Julius of the Imperial Cohort. 2We boarded a ship from Adramyttium bound for the ports along the coast of Asia and put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us. 3The next day we docked at Sidon. Julius treated Paul kindly, letting him go to friends for care. 4From there we put to sea and sailed along Cyprus's sheltered side, since the winds opposed us. 5Having sailed across the open sea off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra in Lycia. 6There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and put us aboard it. 7Sailing slowly for many days, we barely reached Cnidus. Since the wind blocked us, we sailed along the sheltered side of Crete, off Salmone. 8Barely coasting along, we reached Fair Havens, a place near the town of Lasea.
9Much time was lost—even the Fast had passed, making sailing dangerous now. So Paul warned them, a a v9 "The Fast" was the Day of Atonement, in autumn — once it passed, the season for safe sea travel was effectively closed. 10"Men, I see this voyage will bring disaster and heavy loss—not only to the cargo and ship, but also to our lives." 11But the centurion trusted the pilot and shipowner more than Paul's words. 12Since the harbor was unfit for winter, most decided to sail on, hoping somehow to reach Phoenix, a Crete harbor facing southwest and northwest, and winter there.
The Storm at Sea
13When a south wind blew gently, thinking they'd gained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed close along Crete. 14But before long, a hurricane-force wind called the Northeaster swept down from the island. 15The ship was caught and couldn't face the wind, so we gave way and drifted. 16Running under a small island called Cauda, we barely managed to secure the ship's lifeboat. 17Once hoisted aboard, they used ropes to brace the hull. Fearing they'd run aground on Syrtis's sandbars, they lowered the sea anchor and were driven along. b b v17 The Syrtis was a notorious stretch of shifting sandbars off the North African coast, dreaded by ancient sailors. 18The storm battered us so violently that the next day they began throwing cargo overboard. 19On the third day, with their own hands they threw the ship's gear overboard. 20For many days sun and stars didn't appear, the fierce storm kept raging, and we finally lost all hope of being saved.
21After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood among them and said, "Men, you should have obeyed me and not sailed from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this disaster and loss. 22Now I urge you to stay encouraged: none of you will lose your life, only the ship will be lost. 23Last night an angel of our Father—the one I belong to and serve—stood beside me, c c v23 Paul does not name a distant deity but the Father he belongs to — even in a sinking ship, he is a son in his Father's care. 24and said, 'Don't be afraid, Paul. You must stand before Caesar, and look—our Father has given you the lives of all sailing with you.' 25So take courage, men—I trust our Father: it will be just as I was told. 26But we must run aground on some island."
The Shipwreck
27On the fourteenth night, still driven across the Adriatic Sea, the sailors sensed near midnight that land was approaching. 28They sounded and found 120 feet; going a little farther, they sounded again and found ninety feet. d d v28 The Greek measures twenty then fifteen fathoms — the rapidly shrinking depth warned the sailors that land was dangerously close. 29Afraid of hitting rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight. 30The sailors tried to escape from the ship, lowering the lifeboat into the sea, pretending to run out anchors from the bow. 31Paul told the centurion and soldiers, "Unless these men stay in the ship, you can't be saved." 32So the soldiers cut the ropes holding the lifeboat and let it drift away.
33Just before dawn, Paul urged everyone to eat, saying, "This is the fourteenth day you've waited anxiously, without food, having eaten nothing. 34So I urge you to eat—this is for your survival. Not a hair from any of your heads will be lost." 35Saying this, he took bread, thanked our Father before them all, broke it, and began to eat. 36They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves. 37Altogether there were 276 of us on board. 38Once satisfied with food, they lightened the ship by tossing the grain into the sea. 39At daylight they did not recognize the land, but noticed a bay with a sandy beach, and planned, if possible, to run the ship aground there. 40They cut the anchors loose, leaving them in the sea, and at the same time untied the rudder ropes. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and headed for the beach. 41But hitting a sandbar where two currents met, they ran the ship aground—the bow stuck fast, unmoving, while the waves' force broke the stern apart.
42The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners so that none of them could swim away and escape. 43But the centurion, wanting to save Paul, stopped them from their plan, and ordered those who could swim to jump in first and get to shore, 44and the rest—some on planks, some on ship debris. So everyone reached land safely.
