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Paul Is Sent to Rome

¹ Now when it was determined that ^(F1)(C1)we (including Luke) ^(C2)would sail for ^(C3)Italy, they turned Paul and some other prisoners over to a centurion of the Augustan ^(C4)Regiment named Julius.² And going aboard a ship from Adramyttian which was about to sail for the ports along the west coast province of ^(C1)Asia Minor, we put out to sea; and ^(C2)Aristarchus, a ^(C3)Macedonian from ^(C4)Thessalonica, accompanied us.³ The next day we landed at ^(C1)Sidon; and Julius, ^(C2)treating Paul with thoughtful consideration, ^(C3)allowed him to go to his friends there and be cared for and refreshed.⁴ From there we put out to sea and sailed to the leeward (sheltered) side of ^(C1)Cyprus for protection from weather because ^(C2)the winds were against us.⁵ When we had sailed across the sea along the coasts of ^(C1)Cilicia and ^(C2)Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia on the south coast of Asia Minor.⁶ There the centurion Julius found an ^(C1)Alexandrian ship a grain ship of the Roman fleet sailing for ^(C2)Italy, and he put us aboard it.⁷ For a number of days we sailed slowly and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus; then, ^(C1)because the wind did not allow us to go farther, we sailed under the leeward (sheltered) side of ^(C2)Crete, off Salmone;⁸ and ^(C1)hugging the shore with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea on the south side of Crete.

⁹ Now much time had been lost, and ^(F1)navigation was dangerous, because even the time for ^(C1)the fast (Day of Atonement) was already over, so Paul began to strongly warn them,¹⁰ saying, "Men, I sense after careful thought and observation that this voyage will certainly be a ^(C1)disaster and with great loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives."¹¹ However, the centurion Julius, ranking officer on board was persuaded by the ^(C1)pilot and the owner of the ship rather than by what Paul said.¹² Because the harbor was not well situated for wintering, the majority of the sailors decided to put to sea from there, hoping somehow to reach Phoenix, a harbor of ^(C1)Crete facing southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.

¹³ So when the south wind blew softly, thinking that they had obtained their goal, they weighed anchor and ^(C1)sailed along ^(C2)Crete, hugging the coast.

Shipwreck

²¹ After ^(F1)they had gone a long time without food because of seasickness and stress, Paul stood up before them and said, "^(C1)Men, you should have followed my advice and should not have set sail from ^(C2)Crete, and brought on this ^(C1)damage and loss.²² "But even now I urge you to ^(C1)keep up your courage and be in good spirits, because there will be no loss of life among you, but only loss of the ship.²³ "For this very night ^(C1)an angel of the God to whom I belong and ^(C2)whom I serve ^(C3)stood before me,²⁴ and said, 'Stop being afraid, Paul. ^(C1)You must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has given you the lives of ^(C2)all those who are sailing with you.'²⁵ "So ^(C1)keep up your courage, men, for I believe God and have complete confidence in Him that it will turn out exactly as I have been told;²⁶ but we must ^(C1)run the ship aground on some ^(C2)island."

²⁷ The fourteenth night had come and we were drifting and being driven about in the ^(F1)Adriatic Sea, when about midnight the sailors began to suspect that they were approaching some land.²⁸ So they took soundings using a weighted line and found the depth to be twenty fathoms (120 feet); and a little farther on they sounded again and found the depth to be fifteen fathoms (90 feet).²⁹ Then fearing that we might ^(C1)run aground somewhere on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern to slow the ship and kept wishing for daybreak to come.³⁰ But as the sailors were trying to escape secretly from the ship and had let down ^(C1)the skiff into the sea, pretending that they were going to lay out anchors from the bow,³¹ Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, "Unless these men remain on the ship, you cannot be saved."³² Then the soldiers cut away the ^(C1)ropes that held the skiff and let it fall and drift away.

³³ While they waited for the day to dawn, Paul encouraged them all and told them to have some food, saying, "This is the fourteenth day that you have been constantly on watch and going without food, having eaten nothing.³⁴ "So I urge you to eat some food, for this is for your survival; for ^(C1)not a hair from the head of any of you will perish."³⁵ Having said this, he took bread and ^(C1)gave thanks to God in front of them all, and he broke it and began to eat.³⁶ Then ^(C1)all of them were encouraged and their spirits improved, and they also ate some food.³⁷ All told there were two hundred and seventy-six ^(C1)of us aboard the ship.³⁸ After they had eaten enough, they began to lighten the ship by ^(C1)throwing the ^(F1)wheat from Egypt overboard into the sea.

³⁹ When day came, ^(C1)they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, and they decided to run the ship ashore there if they could.⁴⁰ So they ^(C1)cut the cables and severed the anchors and left them in the sea while at the same time ^(F1)unlashing the ropes of the rudders; and after hoisting the foresail to the wind, they headed steadily for the beach.⁴¹ But striking a ^(F1)reef with waves breaking in on either side, they ran the ship aground. The prow (forward point) stuck fast and remained immovable, while the stern began to break up under the violent force of the waves.⁴² The soldiers' plan was to ^(C1)kill the prisoners, so that none of them would dive overboard and swim to land and escape;⁴³ but the centurion, ^(C1)wanting to save Paul, kept them from carrying out their plan. He commanded those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to the shore;⁴⁴ and he commanded the rest to follow, some on floating planks, and others on various things from the ship. And so it was that ^(C1)all of them were brought safely to land.