27:1 When it was determined that we were to sail off to Italy, they handed over Paul and some other prisoners to a Roman army captain named Julius of the Imperial Division.

27:2 We boarded a ship from Adramyttium which was about to depart for stops along the cost of the province of Asia. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us.

27:3 On another day we were taken down to Sidon. Julius was kind to Paul and allowed him to visit friends to care for his needs.

27:4 Setting out from there, we sailed near the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us.

27:5 Then we went out to the open sea off Cilicia and Pamphylia, then down to Myra of Lycia.

27:6 The Roman army captain found an Alexandrian ship there which was headed to Italy, and he put us on board.

27:7 Sailing was very slow for many days, and we were barely able to reach Cnidus. But the winds were unfavorable for us to leave there, so we sailed along the lee of Crete across from Salome.

27:8 We sailed along the coast with great difficulty until we came to a place called Fair Harbors near the city of Lasea.

27:9 Now since so much time had passed and sailing was already hazardous, and since Paul had already missed The Fast, he pleaded with them:

27:10 “Gentlemen, it seems to me that sailing is going to result in much damage and loss, not only of the cargo and ship, but also of our lives.”

27:11 But the Roman army captain was persuaded by the navigator and the one who chartered the ship over what Paul had said.

27:12 The harbor was unfit for making berth for the winter, so the majority decided to set out from there in the hope that they might be able to spend the winter at Phoenix. It was a harbor at Crete which faced both northwest and southwest.

27:13 And when a gentle south wind came up, they thought they had what they were looking for, so they weighed anchor and stayed near the coast along Crete.

27:14 Not long afterwards a violent wind of hurricane force, called a Northeaster, slammed into the island.

27:15 The ship was caught up in it and could not face into the wind, so we just let the wind carry it along.

27:16 We came under the lee of a small island called Cauda, but we were barely able to secure the lifeboat.

27:17 When they had hoisted it aboard they ran ropes to reinforce the ship.Fearing that they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the anchor and we were driven along.

27:18 But we were so violently tossed around by the storm that they jettisoned the cargo the next day,

27:19 and on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands.

27:20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for another four days due to the continuing storm, we were robbed of all hope of being rescued.

27:21 After they had gone without food for a long time, Paul stood among them and said, “Gentlemen, you should have listened to me when I told you not to set out from Crete, so you could have avoided this damage and loss.

27:22 But now I urge you to cheer up, because not one life among you will be lost, but only the ship.

27:23 Last night a Messenger of the God I belong to, and to whom I offer divine service, stood beside me

27:24 and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul! You must stand before Caesar, so God has favored you by granting you the lives of everyone sailing with you.’

27:25 So cheer up, gentlemen! For I trust God that it will happen just as I have been told.

27:26 However, we must run aground on some island.”

27:27 On the fourteenth night we were still being driven all over the Adriatic Sea, when around midnight the sailors sensed that we were approaching land.

27:28 So they took a sounding and it measured twenty fathoms deep, and when they took another one a while later it measured fifteen fathoms.

27:29 Fearing that we might crash against the rocks, they pitched four anchors off the stern on the presumption that daylight was approaching.

27:30 Now some of the sailors tried to escape the ship by lowering the lifeboat to the sea under the pretext of dropping anchors from the bow.

27:31 But Paul warned the Roman army captain and the soldiers, “If any of these don’t stay with the ship, none of you will be saved!”

27:32 So the soldiers cut the ropes to the lifeboat and let it drop.

27:33 When it was almost dawn the next day, Paul encouraged everyone to eat something: “Today marks the fourteenth day that you’ve eaten nothing because of worry.

27:34 So I urge you all to eat something in order to preserve yourselves, for not a hair on your heads will be lost!”

27:35 Having said this, Paul took some bread and thanked God for it in front of them, then broke it and began to eat.

27:36 This made them all take heart and eat.

27:37 (The total number of people on board the ship was two hundred seventy-six.)

27:38 And when they were full, they lightened the ship further by tossing the grain into the sea.

27:39 When it was light enough to see the land, they did not recognize it. But they noticed a bay with a beach and thought they might be able to run the ship aground there.

27:40 So they let the anchors slip while also loosening the ropes on the rudders, then hoisted the foresail to catch the wind and head for the beach.

27:41 But when they got to a channel where two seas met, the bow ran aground and was stuck firmly while the stern was being broken apart by the force of the waves.

27:42 Now the soldiers decided that they should kill the prisoners so that no one could swim out and escape.

27:43 But the Roman army captain was determined to bring Paul safely through and he thwarted their plans. In addition, he ordered that those who could swim were to dive off first and go to land,

27:44 while others would use planks or other parts of the ship. So everyone made it safely to land.