Montgomery - Acts - 27

27:1  When it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they proceeded to hand over Paul and a few other prisoners to the custody of Julius, a centurion of the Imperial Regiment.

27:2  We embarked in a ship of Adramyttium which was about to sail to the ports of the province of Asia, and put to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, accompanied us.

27:3  The next day we touched at Sidon. There Julius treated Paul kindly, and gave him leave to visit his friends and refresh himself.

27:4  Putting to sea from thence we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were against us;

27:5  and after sailing across the Cilician and Pamphylian waters, we came to Myra, in Lycia.

27:6  And there the centurion found an Alexandrian ship bound for Italy, and put us on board of her.

27:7  For many days we sailed slowly, and then arrived with difficulty over against Cnidus; from this point, as the wind did not further favor us, we ran under the lee of Crete, off Cape Salmone;

27:8  and coasting along with difficulty we reached a place called Fair Havens, not far from the town of Lasea.

27:9  By this time the season was far advanced, and sailing had become dangerous (for the Autumn Fast was past); so Paul began to warn them.

27:10  "Sirs," he said to them, "I perceive that the voyage will be attended with injury and serious loss, not only to the cargo and to the ship, but also to our own lives."

27:11  But the centurion paid greater heed to the master and to the owner than to anything that was spoken by Paul;

27:12  and as the harbor was ill adapted for winter quarters, the majority advised putting out to sea from thence, to see whether they could get to Phoenix and winter there, a harbor on the coast of Crete facing northeast and southeast.

27:13  And when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, close in shore.

27:14  But it was not long before a furious wind, called Euroclydon, rushed down from the island;

27:15  when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it, and let her drive.

27:16  Then we ran under the lee of a little island named Claudia, where with great difficulty we were able to secure the ship’s boat.

27:17  After hauling it aboard, they used ropes to undergird the ship, and since they were fearful lest they should be driven upon the Syrtes, they lowered the gear and lay to.

27:18  And as we were being terribly battered by the storm, the next day they began to throw the freight overboard,

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

27:20  Then when for many days neither sun nor stars were seen, and a great tempest still beat upon us, all hope that we should be saved was now taken away from us.

27:21  When for a long time they had been without food, Paul stood among them and said. "Men, you ought to have listened to me, and not have set sail from Crete, and so have spared yourselves this injury and loss.

27:22  "But now take courage. There will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship,

27:23  "for last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve, stood by me and said.

27:24  "‘Fear not, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. Behold, God has granted you the lives of all who are sailing with you.’

27:25  "So take courage, men! I believe God, I believe that things will turn out exactly as it has been told me.

27:26  "But we must be cast upon a certain island."

27:27  It was now the fourteenth night, and we were drifting through the Adriatic Sea when, about midnight, the sailors began to suspect that they were drawing near to some land.

27:28  So they sounded and found twenty fathoms; and after a little they sounded again, and found fifteen fathoms.

27:29  Then, fearing lest we should run ashore on the rocks, they threw out four anchors from the stern, and longed for day to come.

27:30  And when the sailors were trying to flee from the ship, and had lowered the boat into the sea under pretext of laying anchors from the bow,

27:31  Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, "Unless these men remain on the ship, you cannot be saved."

27:32  Then the soldiers cut the ropes of the ship’s boat and let her fall off.

27:33  And while day was dawning, Paul kept urging them all to take some food. "This is the fourteenth day," he said, "that you have been on the watch, fasting, having eaten nothing.

27:34  "So I beg you to take some food, for this is for your safety. For there shall not a hair perish from the head of any one of you."

27:35  When he had so said and had taken bread, he gave thanks to God before them all, and broke it and began to eat.

27:36  Then they all cheered up and themselves took food.

27:37  There were in the ship two hundred and seventy-six souls, all told.

27:38  After eating a hearty meal, they began to lighten the ship by throwing the wheat overboard.

27:39  When it was day they tried in vain to recognize the land, but they spied an inlet with a sandy beach, and they began conferring to see whether they could drive the ship into it.

27:40  They cast off the anchors and left them in the sea, and unloosing at the same time the ropes that tied the rudders, they hoisted the foresail to the breeze, and headed for the beach.

27:41  But coming to a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; the bow struck and remained fixed, but the stern began to break up under the violence of the waves.

27:42  Now the soldiers were planning to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim off and so escape.

27:43  But the centurion kept them from their purpose, because he wished to save Paul. He gave orders that those who could swim should first jump overboard and get to land;

27:44  and that the rest should follow, some on planks and some on other bits of wreckage. And so it came to pass that all escaped safe to the land.