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Acts 27

1When it was decided that we should sail to Italy, they handed Paul and some other prisoners over to a centurion named Julius of the Augustan cohort. 2We boarded a ship from Adramyttium that was about to sail to places along the coast of Asia and put to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us. 3The next day we landed at Sidon. Julius treated Paul kindly and allowed him to go to his friends and receive their care. 4From there we put to sea and sailed under the shelter of Cyprus because the winds were against us. 5Crossing the open sea off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra in Lycia. 6There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing to Italy and put us aboard it. 7We sailed slowly for many days and with difficulty came off Cnidus. Since the wind would not let us go farther, we sailed under the shelter of Crete off Salmone. 8With difficulty we sailed along it and came to a place called Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea.

9Much time had passed and sailing was already dangerous because even the Fast had gone by. Paul advised them, 10saying, “Men, I see that the voyage is going to bring damage and great loss, not only of the cargo and the ship but also of our lives.” 11But the centurion was persuaded by the pilot and the shipowner rather than by what Paul said. 12Since the harbor was unsuitable for wintering, the majority decided to sail from there, hoping somehow to reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete facing southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.

13When a south wind blew gently, they thought they had obtained their purpose. They weighed anchor and sailed close along Crete. 14But before long a violent wind called the Northeaster swept down from it. 15The ship was caught and could not face the wind, so we gave way and were driven along. 16Running under the shelter of a small island called Cauda, we were barely able to secure the ship's boat. 17After hoisting it aboard, they used supports to undergird the ship. Fearing that they would run aground on the Syrtis, they lowered the gear and were driven along in this way. 18As the storm battered us violently, the next day they began throwing cargo overboard. 19On the third day they threw out the ship's equipment with their own hands. 20For many days neither sun nor stars appeared, and no small storm lay upon us, until all hope of our being saved was taken away.

21After a long time without food, Paul stood among them and said, “Men, you ought to have listened to me and not sailed from Crete, and so avoided this damage and loss. 22But now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, only of the ship. 23For this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship stood beside me, 24saying, ‘Do not fear, Paul. You must stand before Caesar, and look, God has granted you all who sail with you.’ 25So take heart, men, for I believe God that it will happen just as I have been told. 26But we must run aground on some island.”

27On the fourteenth night, while we were being driven about in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors suspected they were approaching some land. 28They took a sounding and found twenty fathoms. A little farther on they took another sounding and found fifteen fathoms. 29Fearing we might run aground on rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come. 30The sailors tried to escape from the ship and lowered the boat into the sea, pretending they were going to lay out anchors from the bow. 31Paul said to the centurion and soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.” 32Then the soldiers cut the boat's ropes and let it fall away.

33As day was about to come, Paul urged everyone to take food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day you have continued waiting without food, taking nothing. 34So I urge you to take food, for this is for your salvation; not a hair will perish from the head of any of you.” 35Saying this, he took bread, gave thanks to God before them all, broke it, and began to eat. 36They all took heart and ate food themselves. 37There were two hundred seventy-six souls in the ship altogether. 38When they had eaten their fill, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea.

39When day came, they did not recognize the land, but noticed a bay with a beach on which they planned to run the ship aground if they could. 40Cutting away the anchors, they left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes of the steering oars. They raised the foresail to the wind and headed for the beach. 41But striking a place where two seas met, they ran the vessel aground. The bow stuck fast and remained immovable, while the stern began breaking up under the violence. 42The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners so that none might swim away and escape. 43But the centurion, wishing to save Paul, prevented them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those able to swim to jump overboard first and make for land, 44and the rest to follow, some on planks and some on other pieces of the ship. In this way everyone was brought safely to land.

Translation notes 5

27:1–8 — Voyage. The “we” narrative resumes. The text does not name the narrator here. Sailing under an island's shelter means using its protection from contrary winds. The ship's origin and its destination are distinct details.

27:9–14 — Season and wind. The Fast is the Day of Atonement, placing the voyage in the dangerous autumn sailing season without supplying an exact year. Paul first predicts loss of life; after the angelic message he assures survival. Both statements remain. The harbor's southwest/northwest orientation is translated as given. The wind-name means a northeaster; some witnesses have the form familiar as Euroclydon.

27:16–20 — Emergency measures. The ship's boat is a smaller craft carried or towed for use with the vessel. Undergirding supports the hull, probably with ropes. Syrtis is the dangerous shoal region off North Africa. “Gear” is deliberately broad: a lowered sail or a sea anchor has been proposed. Verse 19 follows the base's “they,” not the alternative “we.”

27:27–34 — Depth and rescue. The ancient Adriatic designation covers a wider sea area than the modern name. A fathom is about six feet: twenty and fifteen fathoms are about 120 and 90 feet. “Saved” and “salvation” concern survival of the shipwreck here. The promise that no hair will perish closely recalls Luke 21:18, with Acts' explicit application to everyone aboard. The promise does not eliminate the need for the sailors to remain or for people to eat.

27:35–41 — Bread, number, and grounding. Taking bread, thanksgiving, and breaking recall other meals in Luke–Acts, but the narrative does not explicitly call this meal the Lord's Supper. “Souls” means people. The base has 276; a significant alternative has about 76. “Where two seas met” describes the grounding site without identifying a precise modern location. The base's final “violence” lacks the words “of the waves,” present in other witnesses.