Acts:27

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* WHEN it was decided that we should sail for Italy , they committed Paul and certain other prisoners to a centurion named Julius , of an imperial battalion . * Going on board a ship of Adramyttium which was about to sail to the places along the coast of Asia we put to sea . Aristarchus , a Macedonian of Thessalonica , was with us . * On the next day we reached Sidon , where Julius treated Paul kindly and allowed him to go to see his friends and enjoy their attentions . * Putting to sea from there , we sailed under the lee of Cyprus because the winds were contrary . * After crossing the sea off Cilicia and Pamphylia , we came to Myra in Lycia . * There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship bound for Italy and put us on board of her . * By slow sailing for many days we with difficulty arrived off Cnidus . Then the wind being against us , we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone * and with difficulty got past it and came to a place called Fair Havens , near which was the city of Lasea . * When much time had passed and sailing was now dangerous because it was already after the Fast , Paul addressed them . * "Men ," he said , "I see that the voyage is going to be rough and with much loss not only of the cargo and the ship but also of our lives ." * But the Centurion listened more to the sailing master and the ship owner than to what Paul said , * and as the harbor was not convenient to winter in , the majority adopted the purpose of sailing away on the chance of being able to reach Phoenix and winter there . Phoenix is a harbor of Crete facing the southwest and the northwest . * When the south wind blew softly , thinking that they had secured their purpose , they weighed anchor and coasted along Crete . * But before long a hurricane , such as is called Euraquilo , swept down off the land . * When the ship was caught and unable to keep her head to the wind , we gave up and let her drive before it . * Running under the lee of an island called Cauda , we contrived with difficulty to secure the small boat . * When we had got it in , we used ropes to undergird the ship . Fearing that we might get stranded on the Syrtis , they lowered the sail and so drifted . * So violently were we battered by the storm that on the next day they lightened the ship * and on the third day with their own hands they threw over the ship 's tackle . * When for many days neither sun nor stars appeared and no small tempest lay on us , at last all hope of our being saved was being taken away . * After they had long gone without food , Paul stood up in the midst of them and said , "Men , you ought to have listened to me and not to have sailed away from Crete and met this rough experience and loss . * But now I beg you to have courage , for there will be no loss of life of any of you , but only of the ship . * For this night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood by me * and said , 'Never fear , Paul ! You must stand before Caesar . And now God has granted to you all the men who are sailing with you .' * So cheer up , men . For I trust in God that it will be as it has been told me . * We must , however , run on to a certain island ." * When the fourteenth night came , as we were being driven through the Adriatic , about midnight the sailors surmised that land was getting near . * Sounding they found twenty fathoms , and after a little they sounded again and found fifteen fathoms . * Then fearing that they might run into rocky places , they cast out four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come . * The sailors were intent on escaping from the ship and lowered the small boat into the sea under the pretense of laying out anchors from the bow , * but Paul said to the Centurion and the soldiers , "Unless these men stay in the ship , you cannot be saved ." * Then the soldiers cut the ropes of the small boat and let her fall off . * Until day began to dawn , Paul kept urging all to take food . He said , "To-day is the fourteenth day that you have been on the watch fasting , not taking anything . * Therefore , I beg you , take some food . For this is for your safety . Not a hair of the head of any one of you is going to perish ." * Saying this he took a loaf and gave thanks to God before all and broke it and began to eat . * Then all cheered up and themselves took food . * We in the ship were in all two hundred and seventy-six souls . * After eating heartily , they lightened the ship , throwing over the wheat into the sea . * When day came they did not recognize the land , but they observed a bay with a beach . Into this they planned to run the ship if they could . * So abandoning the anchors they left them in the sea ; at the same time loosening the bands of the steering oars and raising the foresail to the wind , they made for the beach . * But falling into a place where there were cross-currents they ran the ship aground . The bow stuck fast and remained immovable , but the stern was breaking up under the violence of the sea . * The soldiers ' advice was to kill the prisoners for fear that some one of them might swim out and escape . * But the Centurion , wishing to save Paul , kept them back from their plan . He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to shore , * and the rest to follow , some on boards and some on things from the ship . And so all got safe to land .

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