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27
Paul and other prisoners sailed from Caesarea to Crete.
Acts 27:1-8
1 When the Governor and those who advised him decided that it was time for us (exc) to get on a ship and go to Italy, they put Paul and some other prisoners into the hands/care of an army captain whose name was Julius. He was the one who would guard us on the journey. Julius was an officer in charge of a group of 100 soldiers that people called ‘the Emperor Augustus Group’. 2 So we got on a ship that had come from Adramyttium city in Asia province. The ship was going to return there, stopping at cities along the coast of Asia province. Aristarchus, a fellow believer who was from Thessalonica city in Macedonia province, went with us. 3 The day after the ship sailed, we arrived at Sidon city. Julius kindly told Paul that he could go and see his friends who lived there, so that they could give him whatever he might need. So Paul visited the believers there. 4 Then the ship left Sidon, but the winds were blowing against us (exc), so the ship went along the north side of Cyprus Island, the side that is sheltered from the wind. 5 After that, we crossed over the sea close to the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia provinces. The ship arrived at Myra city, which is in Lycia province. We got off the ship there. 6 In Myra, people told Julius that a ship was there that had come from Alexandria city and would soon sail to Italy. So he arranged for us to get on that ship, and we left. 7 We sailed slowly for several days and finally arrived close to the coast of Asia province, near Cnidus town. After that, the wind was very strong and did not allow the ship to move straight ahead westward. So instead, we sailed southward along the side of Crete Island that is sheltered from the wind, and we passed near Cape Salmone. 8 The wind was still strong, and it prevented the ship from moving ahead fast. So we moved slowly along the coast of Crete, and we arrived at a harbor that was called Fair Havens, near Lasea town.
Paul warned them not to travel on, but the ship’s officials decided to go on anyway.
Acts 27:9-20
9 Much time had passed, so it would have been dangerous if we (exc) had traveled farther by ship because after that time of the year [MTY] the sea often became very stormy. So Paul said to the men on the ship, 10 “Men, I perceive that if we(inc) travel by ship now, it will be disastrous for us. A storm may destroy the ship and the cargo, and possibly we will drown.” 11 But the officer did not listen to what Paul said. Instead, he decided to do what the pilot of the ship and the owner of the ship advised. 12 The harbor where the ship had stopped was not a good place to remain during the winter when the weather frequently becomes stormy. So most of the people on the ship decided that we(exc) should leave there, because they hoped that we could stay at Phoenix port during the winter, if we could possibly arrive there. That harbor was open to the sea in two directions, but the strong winds did not blow there. 13 Then a gentle wind began to blow from the south, and the crew members thought that they could travel as they had decided to do. So they lifted the anchor up out of the sea, and the ship sailed westward along the southern shore of Crete Island. 14 But after a while, a wind that was very strong blew across the island from the north side and hit the ship. That wind was called {People called that wind} “the Northeast Wind.” 15 It blew strongly against the front of the ship. The result was that we could not keep going in the direction in which we had been going. So the sailors let the wind move the ship in the direction that the wind was blowing. 16 The ship then passed a small island named Cauda. We passed along the side of the island that sheltered the ship from the wind. Then while the ship was moving along, the sailors lifted the lifeboat up out of the water and tied it on the deck. But the strong wind made it difficult even to do that. 17-18 After the sailors hoisted/lifted the lifeboat onto the ship, they tied ropes around the ship’s hull to strengthen the ship. The sailors were afraid that, because the wind was pushing the ship, it might run onto the sandbanks off the coast of Libya to the south and get stuck there. So they lowered the largest sail so that the ship would move slower. Even so, the wind continued to move the ship along. The wind and the waves continued to toss the ship about roughly, so on the next day the sailors began to throw overboard the things that the ship was carrying. 19 On the third day after the stormy wind had begun to blow, the sailors/we [MTY] threw overboard most of the sails, ropes, and poles, in order to make the ship lighter. 20 The wind continued to blow very strongly, and the sky was full of dark clouds day and night. We could not see the sun or the stars for many days, so we could not determine where we were. And the wind continued to blow violently. So we (exc) finally thought that we would drown in the sea.
Paul told them that an angel from God said that they would all survive.
Acts 27:21-26
21 None of us on the ship had eaten for many days. Then one day, Paul stood up in front of us and said, “Friends, you should have listened to me when I said that we (inc) should not sail from Crete. Then we would have been safe, and the ship and its cargo would be in good condition [LIT]. 22 But now, I urge you, do not be afraid, because none of us will die. The storm will destroy the ship but not us. 23 I know this, because last night God, the one to whom I belong and whom I serve, sent an angel who came and stood by me. 24 The angel said to me, ‘Paul, do not be afraid! You (sg) must go to Rome and stand before the Emperor there so that he can judge you. I want you to know that God has made it clear to me that all those who are traveling by ship with you will also survive.’ 25 So cheer up, my friends, because I believe that God will make this happen, exactly as the angel told me. 26 However, the ship will crash on some island, and we (inc) will go ashore there.”
Paul thwarted some sailors who tried to sneak ashore in the lifeboat.
Acts 27:27-32
27 On the fourteenth night after the storm had begun, the ship was still being blown {the wind was still blowing the ship} across the Adriatic sea. About midnight, the sailors sensed that the ship was getting close to land. 28 So they lowered a weight on a rope to measure how deep the water was. When they pulled the rope up again, they measured it and saw that the water was ◄120 ft./37 meters► deep. They went a little farther and lowered the rope again. That time, they saw that the water was only about ◄90 ft./28 meters► deep. 29 They were afraid that the ship might go onto some rocks, so they threw out four anchors from the ship’s stern/back and continued to wish/pray that it would soon be dawn so that they could see where the ship was going. 30 Some of the sailors were planning to escape from the ship, so they lowered the lifeboat into the sea. In order that no one would know what they planned to do, they pretended that they wanted to lower some anchors from the ship’s front/bow. 31 But Paul said to the army officer and soldiers, “If the sailors do not stay in the ship, you have no hope of being saved.” 32 So the soldiers cut the ropes and let the lifeboat fall into the water.
Paul urged them to eat some food, so they did and then lightened the ship.
Acts 27:33-38
33 Just before dawn, Paul urged everyone on the ship to eat some food. He said, “For the past 14 days you have been waiting and watching and not eating anything. 34 So, now I urge you to eat some food. We (inc) need to do that in order to stay alive. I tell you to do that because I know that none of you will drown [IDM].” 35 After Paul had said that, while everyone was watching, he took some bread and thanked God for it. Then he broke the bread and began to eat some of it. 36 The rest of us became encouraged, so we (exc) all ate some food. 37 Altogether there were 276 of us [SYN] on the ship. 38 When everyone had eaten as much as they wanted, they threw the grain that the ship was carrying into the sea, and this made the ship lighter.
The waves began to break up the ship after it struck a shoal.
Acts 27:39-41
39 At dawn, we(exc) could see land, but the sailors did not recognize the place. However, they could see that there was a bay and a wide area of sand at the water’s edge. They planned that, if it was possible, they would steer the ship onto the beach. 40 So some of the sailors cut the anchor ropes and let the anchors fall into the sea. At the same time, other sailors untied the ropes that fastened the rudders, so that they could steer the ship again. Then the sailors raised the sail at the front/bow of the ship so that the wind would blow the ship forward, and the ship headed towards the shore. 41 But the ship hit a sandbank. The front of the ship stuck there and could not move, and big waves beat against the back of the ship and it began to break apart.
The officer saved Paul and commanded all to go to the shore, so they did that.
Acts 27:42-44
42 The soldiers said to one another, “Let’s kill all the prisoners on the ship, so that they will not be able to swim away and escape.” They planned to do that because they were sure that officials would order them to be executed if they let the prisoners escape. 43 But Julius, the army captain, wanted to save Paul, so he stopped the soldiers from doing what they planned to do. Instead, he commanded first that everyone who could swim should jump into the water and swim to land. 44 Then he told the others to hold onto planks or pieces from the ship and go towards shore. We(exc) did what he said, and in that way all of us arrived safely on land.

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© 2008-2017 Ellis W. Deibler, Jr.