Final Voyage to Rome
Acts 27When it was decided that we should sail to Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners to a centurion of the Imperial Regiment named Julius. We boarded a ship from Adramyttium which was about to sail to places along the coast of Asia. Then we put to sea, along with Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, who was with us. The next day, we docked at Sidon. Julius treated Paul kindly and allowed him to go to his friends so they could care for him. We put out to sea from there and sailed under the shelter of Cyprus, because the winds were against us. When we had sailed across the sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia. There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy, and he transferred us to it. Sailing slowly for many days, we arrived off Cnidus with difficulty. Since the wind would not allow us further, we sailed under the shelter of Crete, opposite Salmone. We sailed along with continued difficulty and came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea.
Much time had been lost and the voyage was now dangerous. Since the Day of Atonement had now already passed, Paul warned them and told them, “Men, I can see that the voyage is going to bring disaster and great loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.”
But the centurion was more persuaded by the captain and shipowner than by what Paul said. Since the harbor was not suitable for staying through winter, the majority decided to continue sailing from there, hoping to reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete, facing southwest and northwest, and winter there.
The Storm and Shipwreck
When a gentle south wind began to blow, they thought they had accomplished their purpose, so lifted the anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. But it wasn’t long before a violent wind, called the northeaster, rushed down from the island. When the ship was caught in it and couldn’t head into the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along. As we passed the shelter of a small island called Clauda, we barely managed to secure the lifeboat. After hoisting it up, they used supporting cables under the ship to reinforce it. Fearing that they would run aground on Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and let themselves be carried along. Because the storm was battering us so heavily, they began to throw cargo overboard the next day, and on the third day, they threw the ship’s gear overboard with their own hands. When neither sun nor stars were shining for many days, and the severe storm continued raging, any remaining hope that we would be saved was taken away.
After they had gone without food for a long time, Paul stood up in the middle of them and said, “Men, y’all should have listened to me and not set sail from Crete which caused this damage and loss. But now I urge y’all to cheer up, because none of y’all will lose your life, just the ship. Last night, an angel from the God I belong to and serve stood beside me and said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul. It is necessary for you to appear before Caesar. See, God has graciously given you all those who sail with you.’ Therefore, y’all should cheer up, men, for I believe God, that it will happen just as it was told to me. But we must run aground on a certain island.”
On the fourteenth night while we were being driven across the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors suspected that they were approaching land. They measured the depth to be a hundred and twenty feet, and after going a little further, they measured again and found it was ninety feet deep. Fearing that we would crash into the rocks, they let down four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight to come.
The sailors tried to escape from the ship by lowering the lifeboat into the sea while pretending that they were putting out anchors from the bow, Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, y’all can’t be saved.” So the soldiers cut the ropes of the lifeboat and allowed it to drift away.
As daylight was about to appear, Paul encouraged them all to eat some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that y’all have been waiting and fasting, not eating anything. So now I encourage y’all to take some food. It’s for your* survival, because not one of y’all will lose a hair from your* head.” After he had said this and had taken some bread, he gave thanks to God in the presence of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat. Then they all cheered up and took some food themselves. Altogether, we were 276 souls on that ship. When they had eaten enough to be satisfied, they began to lighten the ship, throwing the grain into the sea. When daylight came, they didn’t recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, and they decided to try to drive the ship onto it. After cutting loose the anchors, they left them in the sea, and at the same time they loosened the rudder ropes. Then they hoisted the foresail up into the wind and headed for the beach. But they were pulled into a crosscurrent and ran the ship aground. The front of the ship was struck and became immovable, while the stern began to break up by the pounding waves.
The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners, so that they wouldn’t swim off and escape. But the centurion wanted to save Paul, so he stopped them from carrying out their plan. He ordered that those who were able to swim should jump overboard first and go toward the land. The rest were to follow, some on planks and some on other pieces of the ship. In this way, they all made it safely to land.