Acts 27

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. ²We boarded a ship from Adramyttium that was about to sail to the ports along the coast of Asia and put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us. ³The next day we put in at Sidon; Julius treated Paul humanely and allowed him to go to his friends to receive their care. ⁴Putting out to sea from there, we sailed under the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us. ⁵After we had sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we reached Myra in Lycia. ⁶There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and put us on board.

⁷We sailed slowly for many days and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus. Since the wind did not allow us to go further, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone. ⁸Coasting along it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea. ⁹Much time had passed, and the voyage was now dangerous because even the Fast—the Day of Atonement—had already passed. So Paul began to warn them, ¹⁰saying, "Men, I perceive that the voyage will be attended by violence and much 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 ship-owner than by what Paul said. ¹²Because the harbor was unsuitable for wintering, the majority reached a decision to put out to sea from there, in the hope that they could somehow reach Phoenix—a harbor in Crete facing both southwest and northwest—to spend the winter.

¹³When a gentle south wind began to blow, they thought they had attained their purpose; they weighed anchor and began to coast along Crete, close to the shore. ¹⁴But before long, a hurricane-force wind, the one called 'Euraquilo,' rushed down from the island. ¹⁵The ship was caught up in it and could not look the wind in the eye, so we gave way and were driven along. ¹⁶Running under the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were barely able to get the ship’s skiff under control. ¹⁷After hoisting it up, they used supports to undergird the ship; then, fearing they might run aground on the Syrtis sands, they lowered the sea-anchor and so were driven along. ¹⁸Because we were being violently tossed by the storm, the next day they began to jettison the cargo. ¹⁹On the third day, they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. ²⁰When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and a great storm continued to batter us, finally all hope of our survival was abandoned.

²¹Since they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up in their midst and said, "Men, you should have followed my advice not to put out to sea from Crete and so have avoided this violence and loss. ²²But now I urge you to take courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, only of the ship. ²³For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood before me, ²⁴saying, 'Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you the lives of all who are sailing with you.' ²⁵Therefore, men, take courage! For I trust God that it will happen exactly as I have been told. ²⁶But we must run aground on some island."

²⁷When the fourteenth night came, as we were being driven across the Adria, about midnight the sailors suspected they were approaching some land. ²⁸They took soundings and found twenty fathoms; after a short distance they took soundings again and found fifteen fathoms. ²⁹Fearing that we might run aground on rocky places, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight to come. ³⁰The sailors tried to escape from the ship and lowered the skiff into the sea under the pretense of intending to lay out anchors from the bow. ³¹Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, "Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved." ³²Then the soldiers cut the ropes of the skiff and let it fall away.

³³Just before daybreak, Paul urged them all to take some food, saying, "Today is the fourteenth day you have been in constant suspense, remaining without food and having eaten nothing. ³⁴Therefore I urge you to take some food, for this is for your survival; not a hair from the head of any of you will perish." ³⁵After he said this, he took bread, gave thanks to God in the presence of all, broke it, and began to eat. ³⁶Then they all took courage and took food themselves. ³⁷(We were in all two hundred and seventy-six souls on the ship.) ³⁸When they had eaten their fill, they lightened the ship by throwing the wheat into the sea.

³⁹When day came, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach on which they planned, if possible, to drive the ship ashore. ⁴⁰Casting off the anchors, they left them in the sea, while at the same time loosening the ropes that bound the rudders. Then, hoisting the foresail to the wind, they headed for the beach. ⁴¹But striking a place where two seas met, they ran the vessel aground. The bow stuck fast and remained immovable, but the stern began to break up under the violence of the waves. ⁴²The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners so that no one would swim away and escape. ⁴³But the centurion, wanting to bring Paul safely through, thwarted their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land, ⁴⁴and the rest to follow, some on planks and others on various pieces of the ship. And in this way, it happened that everyone was brought safely to land.