Chapter 27

Paul Is Sent to Rome

1 When it was decided that awe bwould sail for cItaly, they proceeded to deliver Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan 1dcohort named Julius.

2 And embarking in an Adramyttian ship, which was about to sail to the regions along the coast of 1aAsia, we put out to sea accompanied by bAristarchus, a cMacedonian of dThessalonica.

3 The next day we put in at aSidon; and Julius btreated Paul with consideration and callowed him to go to his friends and receive care.

4 From there we put out to sea and sailed under the shelter of aCyprus because bthe winds were contrary.

5 When we had sailed through the sea along the coast of aCilicia and bPamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia.

6 There the centurion found an aAlexandrian ship sailing for bItaly, and he put us aboard it.

7 When we had sailed slowly for a good many days, and with difficulty had arrived off Cnidus, asince the wind did not permit us to go farther, we sailed under the shelter of bCrete, off Salmone;

8 and with difficulty asailing past it we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea.

9 When considerable time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous, since even athe 1fast was already over, Paul began to admonish them,

10 and said to them, “Men, I perceive that the voyage will certainly be with adamage and great loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.”

11 But the centurion was more persuaded by the apilot and the 1captain of the ship than by what was being said by Paul.

12 Because the harbor was not suitable for wintering, the majority reached a decision to put out to sea from there, if somehow they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of aCrete, facing southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.

13 1When a moderate south wind came up, supposing that they had attained their purpose, they weighed anchor and began asailing along bCrete, close inshore.

Shipwreck

14 But before very long there arushed down from 1the land a violent wind, called 2Euraquilo;

15 and when the ship was caught in it and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and let ourselves be driven along.

16 Running under the shelter of a small island called Clauda, we were scarcely able to get the ship’s 1boat under control.

17 After they had hoisted it up, they used 1supporting cables in undergirding the ship; and fearing that they might arun aground on the shallows of Syrtis, they let down the 2sea anchor and in this way let themselves be driven along.

18 The next day as we were being violently storm-tossed, 1they began to ajettison the cargo;

19 and on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands.

20 Since neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small storm was assailing us, from then on all hope of our being saved was gradually abandoned.

21 1When they had gone a long time without food, then Paul stood up in their midst and said, “aMen, you ought to have 2followed my advice and not to have set sail from bCrete and 3incurred this adamage and loss.

22 “Yet now I urge you to akeep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.

23 “For this very night aan angel of the God to whom I belong and bwhom I serve cstood before me,

24 saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; ayou must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has granted you ball those who are sailing with you.’

25 “Therefore, akeep up your courage, men, for I believe God that 1it will turn out exactly as I have been told.

26 “But we must arun aground on a certain bisland.”

27 But when the fourteenth night came, as we were being driven about in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors began to surmise that 1they were approaching some land.

28 They took soundings and found it to be twenty fathoms; and a little farther on they took another sounding and found it to be fifteen fathoms.

29 Fearing that we might arun aground somewhere on the 1rocks, they cast four anchors from the stern and 2wished for daybreak.

30 But as the sailors were trying to escape from the ship and had let down athe ship’s boat into the sea, on the pretense of intending to lay out anchors from the bow,

31 Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, “Unless these men remain in the ship, you yourselves cannot be saved.”

32 Then the soldiers cut away the aropes of the ship’s boat and let it fall away.

33 Until the day was about to dawn, Paul was encouraging them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have been constantly watching and going without eating, having taken nothing.

34 “Therefore I encourage you to take some food, for this is for your preservation, for anot a hair from the head of any of you will perish.”

35 Having said this, he took bread and agave thanks to God in the presence of all, and he broke it and began to eat.

36 All aof them 1were encouraged and they themselves also took food.

37 All of us in the ship were two hundred and seventy-six 1apersons.

38 When they had eaten enough, they began to lighten the ship by athrowing out the wheat into the sea.

39 When day came, athey 1could not recognize the land; but they did observe a bay with a beach, and they resolved to drive the ship onto it if they could.

40 And casting off athe anchors, they left them in the sea while at the same time they were loosening the ropes of the rudders; and hoisting the foresail to the wind, they were heading for the beach.

41 But striking a 1reef where two seas met, they ran the vessel aground; and the prow stuck fast and remained immovable, but the stern began to be broken up by the force of the waves.

42 The soldiers’ plan was to akill the prisoners, so that none of them would swim away and escape;

43 but the centurion, awanting to bring Paul safely through, kept them from their intention, and commanded that those who could swim should 1jump overboard first and get to land,

44 and the rest should follow, some on planks, and others on various things from the ship. And so it happened that athey all were brought safely to land.