Study Desk

"Whether a short time or a long time," Paul answered, "my prayer to God is that you and all the rest of you who are listening to me today might become what I am—except, of course, for these chains!"

and after leaving they said to each other, "This man has not done anything for which he should die or be put in prison."

We went aboard a ship from Adramyttium, which was ready to leave for the seaports of the province of Asia, and we sailed away. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us.

There the officer found a ship from Alexandria that was going to sail for Italy, so he put us aboard.

We sailed slowly for several days and with great difficulty finally arrived off the town of Cnidus. The wind would not let us go any farther in that direction, so we sailed down the sheltered side of the island of Crete, passing by Cape Salmone.

We spent a long time there, until it became dangerous to continue the voyage, for by now the Day of Atonement was already past. So Paul gave them this advice:

For many days we could not see the sun or the stars, and the wind kept on blowing very hard. We finally gave up all hope of being saved.

For last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship came to me

So take courage, men! For I trust in God that it will be just as I was told.

They were afraid that the ship would go on the rocks, so they lowered four anchors from the back of the ship and prayed for daylight.

Just before dawn, Paul begged them all to eat some food: "You have been waiting for fourteen days now, and all this time you have not eaten a thing.

So they cut off the anchors and let them sink in the sea, and at the same time they untied the ropes that held the steering oars. Then they raised the sail at the front of the ship so that the wind would blow the ship forward, and we headed for shore.

They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after waiting for a long time and not seeing anything unusual happening to him, they changed their minds and said, "He is a god!"

Not far from that place were some fields that belonged to Publius, the chief of the island. He welcomed us kindly and for three days we were his guests.

They gave us many gifts, and when we sailed, they put on board what we needed for the voyage.

We arrived in the city of Syracuse and stayed there for three days.

After questioning me, the Romans wanted to release me, because they found that I had done nothing for which I deserved to die.

That is why I asked to see you and talk with you. As a matter of fact, I am bound in chains like this for the sake of him for whom the people of Israel hope."

For he said, ‘Go and say to this people: You will listen and listen, but not understand; you will look and look, but not see,

For two years Paul lived in a place he rented for himself, and there he welcomed all who came to see him.