Paul Sails for Rome

27 It was decided that we would sail for Italy. An ·officer [centurion] named Julius, who served in the ·emperor’s army [Imperial/Augustan regiment; ^Ca military unit directly under Caesar], ·guarded [took charge of] Paul and some other prisoners. ² We got on a ship that was from the city of Adramyttium [^Ca seaport on the northwest coast of Asia Minor] and was about to sail to different ports in Asia [^Ca Roman province, in present-day Turkey]. Aristarchus [19:29; 20:4; Col. 4:10; Philem. 24], a man from the city of Thessalonica [17:1] in Macedonia [16:9], went with us. ³ The next day we ·came to [landed at] Sidon [12:20]. Julius was very ·good [kind; considerate] to Paul and gave him freedom to go visit his friends, who took care of his needs. ⁴ We left Sidon and sailed ·close to [to the north of; ^Lunder the lee/shelter of] the island of Cyprus [11:19], because the wind was blowing against us. ⁵ We ·went [^Lsailed] across the sea by Cilicia [6:9; 9:11] and Pamphylia [13:13] and landed at the city of Myra [^Ca significant city on the Andracus River] in Lycia [^Ca province in southeastern Asia Minor]. ⁶ There the ·officer [centurion] found a ship from Alexandria [^Ca major city in Egypt] that was going to Italy, so he put us on it.

⁷ We sailed slowly for many days. We had a hard time reaching Cnidus [^Ca port on the southwest side of Asia Minor] because the wind was blowing against us, and we could not go any farther. So we sailed ·by the south side [^Lunder the shelter/lee] of the island of Crete [^Ca large island off the southern coast of Asia Minor] near Salmone [^Ca promontory on the eastern coast of Crete, present-day Cape Sidero]. ⁸ Sailing past it was hard. Then we came to a place called Fair Havens [^Ca bay on the southern coast of Crete], near the ·city [town] of Lasea [^Ca nearby Cretan city].

⁹ We had lost much time, and it was now dangerous to sail, because it was already after ·the Day of Cleansing [^Lthe Fast; ^Cthe Day of Atonement; Yom Kippur in Hebrew; Lev. 16; either late September or early October]. So Paul ·warned [advised] them, ¹⁰ “Men, I can see there will be ·a lot of trouble [^Ldisaster and heavy loss] on this trip. The ship, the cargo, and even our lives may be lost.” ¹¹ But the centurion was more persuaded by the ·captain [pilot] and the owner of the ship than by what Paul said. ¹² Since that harbor was not a ·good [suitable; safe] place for the ship to stay for the winter, ·most of the men [the majority] decided that the ship ·should leave [put to sea]. They hoped we could go to Phoenix and stay there for the winter. Phoenix, a ·city [or port; or harbor] on the island of Crete, had a harbor which faced southwest and northwest.

The Storm

¹³ When a ·good [moderate; gentle] wind began to blow from the south, the men on the ship thought they ·could reach their goal [or had achieved their objective; or had the opportunity they were waiting for]. So they pulled up the anchor, and we sailed very close to the island of Crete. ¹⁴ But ·then [^Lnot long after this] a ·very strong [violent; hurricane-like] wind named the “northeaster” came from ·the island [^Lit]. ¹⁵ The ship was caught in it and could not sail against it. So we stopped trying and ·let the wind carry us [^Lwere driven along]. ¹⁶ When we went ·below [under the lee/shelter of] a small island named Cauda [^C23 miles off the south coast of Crete], we were barely able to bring in the lifeboat. ¹⁷ After the men took the lifeboat in, they tied ·ropes [or cables] ·around [or under] the ship to hold it together. The men were afraid that the ship would ·hit [run aground on] the sandbanks of Syrtis [^Coff the coast of North Africa], so they lowered the ·sail [or sea anchor; ^Lgear] and let the wind carry the ship. ¹⁸ The next day the storm was blowing us so hard that the men threw out some of the cargo. ¹⁹ ·A day later [^LOn the third day] with their own hands they threw out the ship’s ·equipment [rigging; tackle; gear]. ²⁰ When we could not see the sun or the stars for many days, and ·the storm was very bad [^Lno small storm raged], we lost all hope of being saved.

²¹ After ·the men [many] had ·gone without food [or lost their appetite] for a long time, Paul stood up before them and said, “Men, you should have ·listened to me [obeyed me; taken my advice]. You should not have sailed from Crete. Then you would not have all this trouble and loss. ²² But now I ·tell [urge; advise] you to ·cheer up [keep up your courage] because none of you will ·die [be lost]. Only the ship will be lost. ²³ ·Last [^LThis] night an angel ·came to [^Lstood by] me from the God I belong to and worship. ²⁴ The angel said, ‘Paul, do not be afraid. You must stand before Caesar. And God has ·promised you that he will save the lives of [graciously granted safety to] everyone sailing with you.’ ²⁵ So men, have courage. [^LFor] I trust in God that everything will happen as ·his angel told me [^LI have been told]. ²⁶ But we will ·crash [run aground] on ·an [^Lsome/a certain] island.”

²⁷ On the fourteenth night we were still ·being carried [drifting; or being driven] around in the Adriatic Sea [^Cthe sea between Greece and Italy including the central Mediterranean]. About ·midnight [^Lthe middle of the night] the sailors thought we were close to land, ²⁸ so they ·lowered a rope with a weight on the end of it into the water [took a sounding]. They found that the water was one hundred twenty feet deep [^Ltwenty fathoms]. They went a little farther and ·lowered the rope again [took a sounding]. It was ninety feet [^Lfifteen fathoms] deep. ²⁹ ·The sailors [^LThey] were afraid that we would ·hit the rocks [run aground], so they threw four anchors ·into the water [^Lfrom the stern] and prayed for daylight to come. ³⁰ Some of the sailors wanted to leave the ship, and they lowered the lifeboat, pretending they were throwing more anchors from the ·front of the ship [bow]. ³¹ But Paul told the ·officer [centurion] and the other soldiers, “If these men do not stay in the ship, your lives cannot be saved.” ³² So the soldiers cut the ropes and let the lifeboat fall into the water.

³³ Just before dawn Paul ·began persuading [begged; encouraged; urged] all the people to ·eat something [^Ltake food]. He said, “·For the past fourteen days [^LToday is the fourteenth day] you have been ·waiting and watching [in suspense] and ·not eating [^Lgoing without food, taking nothing]. ³⁴ Now I ·beg [urge; encourage] you to ·eat something [^Ltake food]. You need it to ·stay alive [survive]. None of you will lose even one hair off your heads.” ³⁵ After he said this, Paul took some bread and thanked God for it before all of them. He broke off a piece and began eating [^Creflecting language associated with the Lord’s Supper]. ³⁶ They all felt ·better [encouraged] and ·started eating [^Ltook bread], too. ³⁷ ·There were [^LWe were in all] two hundred seventy-six people on the ship. ³⁸ When they had eaten all they wanted, they began making the ship lighter by throwing the ·grain [wheat] into the sea.

The Ship Is Destroyed

³⁹ When daylight came, they did not recognize the land, but they saw a bay with a beach and wanted to sail the ship ·to [up on] the beach if they could. ⁴⁰ So they ·cut the ropes to [^Lcast off] the anchors and left ·the anchors [^Lthem] in the sea. At the same time, they untied the ropes that were holding the rudders. Then they raised the front sail into the wind and sailed toward the beach. ⁴¹ But the ship hit a ·sandbank [reef; shoal; or cross-current; ^Lplace of two seas]. The front of the ship stuck there and could not move, but the ·back of the ship [stern] began to break up from the big waves.

⁴² The soldiers ·decided [made a decision] to kill the prisoners so none of them could swim away and escape. ⁴³ But ·Julius, the officer, [^Lthe centurion] wanted to ·let Paul live [^Lsave Paul] and ·did not allow the soldiers to kill the prisoners [^Lstopped them from their plan]. Instead he ordered everyone who could swim to jump into the water first and swim to land. ⁴⁴ The rest were to follow using wooden boards or pieces of the ship. And this is how all the people made it safely to land.