Acts Chapter 27
Paul’s Voyage to Rome
1 When they decided we would sail to Italy, they turned Paul and some other prisoners over to Julius, a centurion of the Augustan cohort. 2 We boarded a ship out of Adramyttium, ready to sail to places along the coast of Asia. We put out to sea along with Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica. 3 The next day we harbored at Sidon. Julius was nice to Paul and let him go to friends and refresh himself. 4 We launched from there and sailed under the shelter of Cyprus because the winds were against us. 5 After we navigated the open sea along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia. 6 The centurion found an Alexandrian ship there that was sailing for Italy and put us on board. 7 For a number of days, we sailed slowly, and barely made it to Cnidus. Since the wind didn’t let us sail under the shelter of Crete along Salmone, 8 we drifted along it with difficulty and came to a place called Fair Havens near the city of Lasea.
9 When considerable time had passed and the voyage was getting risky—even the Fast [Yom Kippur] was past, Paul started advising them, 10 “Men, I sense the voyage will involve damage and considerable loss of cargo, the ship, and our lives.” 11 But the centurion listened more to the captain and the ship owner than to Paul. 12 Because the harbor wasn’t suitable for wintering, the majority decided to sail from there if they could just get to Phoenix—a harbor at Crete facing southwest and northwest—and winter there.
Acts 27:1-12
The Storm at Sea
13 When a gentle breeze came up, they supposed they’d achieved their purpose. They weighed anchor and started sailing along Crete as close to shore as they could. 14 But not long afterwards, a nor’easter called Euraquilo rushed down from land 15 and caught the ship. It couldn’t face the gale; so we gave way to it and scudded along. 16 We ran under a small island called Cauda and were barely able to secure the dinghy. 17 After they hoisted it up, they used cables to gird up the ship. They were afraid they might run aground on Syrtis, so they let down the sail and drifted along. 18 The next day, the storm tossed us violently, and the crew began to throw cargo overboard*. 19 The third day, they threw the ship’s tackle overboard by hand. 20 When the sun and stars didn’t appear for several days, and the monstrous storm bore down on us, we lost all hope of surviving.
Acts 27:13-20
21 When they’d gone a long time without eating, Paul stood up among them,
“Men, you should’ve listened to me and not sailed from Crete and incurred this damage and loss. 22 Now I urge you to take heart. There won’t be any loss of life, just the ship. 23 Last night an angel of the God I serve stood by me, 24 ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul; you need to stand in front of Caesar, and God has granted you everybody that’s sailing with you.’ 25 So take heart; I believe it will turn out like he said, 26 but we have to run aground on an island.”
Acts 27:21-26
27 The fourteenth night, the storm was driving us around in the Sea of Hadria. About midnight the sailors sensed we were nearing land, 28 so they took a sounding and found the depth was 120 feet. A little farther on, another sounding showed 90 feet. 29 Fearing we might run aground on a rocky coast, they cast four anchors out the stern and longed for daylight. 30 The sailors tried to jump ship by lowering its dinghy into the water on the pretense of laying out anchors from the bow. 31 Paul told the centurion and his soldiers, “If those sailors don’t stay on the ship, youpl won’t make it.” 32 The soldiers cut the ropes to the dinghy and let it fall off.
33 At early dawn, Paul started urging everybody to eat, “Today makes two weeks you’ve been on edge, not eating. 34 Eat for your survival. Not a hair of your head will perish.”
35 When he’d said that, he took a loaf, thanked God in front of them all, broke it up, and starting eating. 36 They took heart and started eating too. 37 There were 276 of us on board. 38 When they’d eaten enough, they lightened the ship by throwing the wheat overboard.
Acts 27:27-38
The Shipwreck on Malta
39 When it got daylight, they didn’t recognize the land, but they noticed a creek with a beach. They decided, if possible, to save the ship. 40 They cut the anchors loose and left them in the sea. At the same time, they took loose the ropes of the rudders, hoisted the foresail to the wind, and headed for the beach. 41 But they struck a mud bar where two currents met. The prow stuck fast and wouldn’t budge, and the force of the waves started tearing the stern apart. 42 The soldiers intended to kill the prisoners so none of them could swim away and escape. 43 But the centurion wanted to take Paul safely through and stopped them. He told the ones that could swim to jump overboard and get to land first. 44 The rest would float there on planks or items from the ship. That way everybody got to shore.
Acts 27:39-44