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ACTS 27
audience might become the same as I am, except
for these chains.”
30 Then the king, the governor, Bernice, and
all the others stood and left. 31 As they went
out, they talked it over and agreed, “This
man hasn’t done anything to deserve death or
imprisonment.”
32 And Agrippa said to Festus, “He could have
been set free if he hadn’t appealed to Caesar.”
Paul Sails for Rome
When the time came, we set sail for
Italy. Paul and several other prisoners
were placed in the custody of a Roman officer*
named Julius, a captain of the Imperial Regiment. 2 Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was also with us. We left on a ship whose
home port was Adramyttium on the northwest
coast of the province of Asia;* it was scheduled
to make several stops at ports along the coast
of the province.
3 The next day when we docked at Sidon, Julius was very kind to Paul and let him go ashore
to visit with friends so they could provide for
his needs. 4 Putting out to sea from there, we encountered strong headwinds that made it difficult to keep the ship on course, so we sailed
north of Cyprus between the island and the
mainland. 5 Keeping to the open sea, we passed
along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, landing at Myra, in the province of Lycia. 6 There the
commanding officer found an Egyptian ship
from Alexandria that was bound for Italy, and
he put us on board.
7 We had several days of slow sailing, and
after great difficulty we finally neared Cnidus.
But the wind was against us, so we sailed across
to Crete and along the sheltered coast of the island, past the cape of Salmone. 8 We struggled
along the coast with great difficulty and finally
arrived at Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea.
9 We had lost a lot of time. The weather was becoming dangerous for sea travel because it was
so late in the fall,* and Paul spoke to the ship’s
officers about it.
10 “Men,” he said, “I believe there is trouble
ahead if we go on—shipwreck, loss of cargo,
and danger to our lives as well.” 11 But the officer in charge of the prisoners listened more to
the ship’s captain and the owner than to Paul.
12 And since Fair Havens was an exposed harbor—a poor place to spend the winter—most of
the crew wanted to go on to Phoenix, farther up
the coast of Crete, and spend the winter there.
Phoenix was a good harbor with only a southwest and northwest exposure.
27
The Storm at Sea
13 When a light wind began blowing from the
south, the sailors thought they could make it.
So they pulled up anchor and sailed close to
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the shore of Crete. 14 But the weather changed
abruptly, and a wind of typhoon strength
(called a “northeaster”) burst across the island
and blew us out to sea. 15 The sailors couldn’t
turn the ship into the wind, so they gave up and
let it run before the gale.
16 We sailed along the sheltered side of a
small island named Cauda,* where with great
difficulty we hoisted aboard the lifeboat being
towed behind us. 17 Then the sailors bound
ropes around the hull of the ship to strengthen
it. They were afraid of being driven across to the
sandbars of Syrtis off the African coast, so they
lowered the sea anchor to slow the ship and
were driven before the wind.
18 The next day, as gale-force winds continued
to batter the ship, the crew began throwing the
cargo overboard. 19 The following day they even
took some of the ship’s gear and threw it overboard. 20 The terrible storm raged for many days,
blotting out the sun and the stars, until at last
all hope was gone.
21 No one had eaten for a long time. Finally,
Paul called the crew together and said, “Men,
you should have listened to me in the first place
and not left Crete. You would have avoided all
this damage and loss. 22 But take courage! None
of you will lose your lives, even though the ship
will go down. 23 For last night an angel of the God
to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me, 24 and he said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul, for
you will surely stand trial before Caesar! What’s
more, God in his goodness has granted safety
to everyone sailing with you.’ 25 So take courage!
For I believe God. It will be just as he said. 26 But
we will be shipwrecked on an island.”
The Shipwreck
27 About midnight on the fourteenth night of
the storm, as we were being driven across the
Sea of Adria,* the sailors sensed land was near.
28 They dropped a weighted line and found that
the water was 120 feet deep. But a little later
they measured again and found it was only
90 feet deep.* 29 At this rate they were afraid we
would soon be driven against the rocks along
the shore, so they threw out four anchors from
the back of the ship and prayed for daylight.
30 Then the sailors tried to abandon the ship;
they lowered the lifeboat as though they were
going to put out anchors from the front of the
ship. 31 But Paul said to the commanding officer and the soldiers, “You will all die unless the
sailors stay aboard.” 32 So the soldiers cut the
ropes to the lifeboat and let it drift away.
27:1 Greek centurion; similarly in 27:6, 11, 31, 43. 27:2 Asia
was a Roman province in what is now western Turkey.
27:9 Greek because the fast was now already gone by. This fast
was associated with the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), which
occurred in late September or early October. 27:16 Some
manuscripts read Clauda. 27:27 The Sea of Adria includes
the central portion of the Mediterranean. 27:28 Greek
20 fathoms . . . 15 fathoms [37 meters . . . 27 meters].