Acts
When it was determined that we would sail to Italy, they transferred Paul
and some other prisoners to a centurion named Julius of the Augustan cohort.
Boarding a ship from Adramyttium which was going to stop at ports along the coast of
the province of Asia, we set sail. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from
Thessalonica, was with us.
The next day we stopped at Sidon. Julius treated
Paul kindly and gave him permission to go to his friends and receive their hospitality.
Setting out from there we sailed under the shelter of the island of Cyprus
because the wind was against us.
When we had sailed across the sea off
Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra in Lycia.
There the centurion found
an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy, and he put us on board.
After sailing
slowly for many days we arrived with difficulty off Cnidus. Because the wind
did not allow us to go on, we sailed under the shelter of the island of Crete, off Salmone.
With difficulty we sailed along the coast of Crete and reached a place called Fair
Havens, near the town of Lasea.
A long time had gone by, and the voyage was now unsafe because the fast was already over. Paul warned them,
“Men, I can
see that this voyage will end in disaster and heavy loss — not only of the
cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.”
But the centurion was more
persuaded by the captain and the owner of the ship than by what Paul said.
As the harbor was not fit to winter in, the majority decided to set sail from
there and see if they could reach Phoenix and spend the winter there. This
was a harbor of Crete which faced southwest and northwest.
When a light wind began to blow from the south, thinking their plan
would work, they weighed anchor and sailed along the coast of Crete, staying
close to the shore.
But before long a hurricane-strength wind called a
“northeaster” swept down from the island.
The ship was caught in it, and since she could not face the wind we gave way and allowed ourselves to be driven along.
As we passed under the shelter of a small island called
Clauda, we were able with great difficulty to get the ship’s rowboat under control.
After hoisting it on board, the sailors used undergirding cables to
brace the ship. Fearing that they would run aground on the sands of Syrtis,
they lowered the sea anchor and allowed the ship to be carried along.
The
next day, because we were being so violently beaten by the storm, they
started throwing the cargo overboard.
And on the third day, the sailors threw the ship’s tackle overboard.
For a number of days we
did not see the sun nor the stars and the storm continued to rage, until
finally all hope of being saved disappeared.
Since many of them had no desire to eat, Paul stood up and
said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not sailed from Crete. Then
you would have escaped this damage and loss.
But now I advise you to
maintain your courage, because there will be no loss of life, but only of the
ship.
For last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship
stood by me
and said, ‘Have no fear, Paul. You must stand before Caesar,
and God has graciously given you the lives of all those sailing with you.’
So
keep up your courage, men, because I believe God. It will be exactly as I
have been told.
But we must run aground on some island.”
On the fourteenth night, while we were being driven across the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors suspected that land was close by.
When they took soundings they measured a depth of twenty fathoms, and a little farther on they again took soundings and it was fifteen.
Afraid that we might run
aground on rocks, they let down four anchors from the stern and wished
for daylight to come.
Then the sailors were trying to escape secretly from the ship, and had
lowered the ship’s rowboat into the sea, pretending that they were going to let
down anchors from the bow.
But Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers,
“If these men do not remain in the ship, you yourselves cannot be saved.”
So the soldiers cut the boat’s ropes and let it drift away.
Just before daybreak Paul urged all of them to eat something, saying,
“Today is the fourteenth day that you have been constantly on watch and
going without any food,
so I urge you to eat something to regain
your strength. For not one of you will lose a hair of his head!”
Then he took
bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of all, and he broke it and
began to eat.
They were all encouraged and ate also.
There were 276 persons on the ship.
When they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea.
When day came they could not recognize the land, but they spotted a bay
with a sandy beach, where they decided to run the ship aground if possible.
So they released the anchors and left them in the sea. At the same time they
loosened the ropes holding the rudders, and hoisting the foresail to the wind,
they headed for the beach.
But they struck a crosscurrent and ran the ship
aground. The bow stuck and could not be moved, while the stern began to
break in pieces from the beating of the waves.
So the soldiers planned to kill
the prisoners to stop them from swimming away and escaping.
But the
centurion wanted to save Paul and prevented their plan. He ordered all who
could swim to jump overboard first and get to land,
and the rest to follow,
some on boards and others on broken pieces of the ship. And in this way all were
brought safely to land.
Acts