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And when much time was passed, and when sailing then was not secure [and when now sailing was not secure], for that fasting was passed, Paul comforted them,

10 and said to them, Men, I see that sailing beginneth to be with wrong and much harm, not only of the charge and of the ship [not only of charge and ship], but also of our lives.

11 But the centurion believed more to the governor, and to the lord of the ship, than to these things that were said of Paul.

12 And when the haven was not able to dwell in winter, full many ordained counsel to sail from thence, if on any manner they might come to Phenice, to dwell in winter at the haven of Crete[a], which beholdeth to Africa, or south west, and to Corum, or north west.

13 And when the south blew, they guessed them to hold purpose; and when they had removed from Assos, they sailed to Crete. [Soothly the south blowing, they guessing them to hold purpose, when they had taken up from Assos, sailed to Crete.]

14 And not after much [time], the wind Tifonyk, that is called north east, was against it.[b]

15 And when the ship was snatched, and might not endeavour against the wind, when the ship was given to the blowings of the wind, we were borne [And when the ship was snatched, and might not endeavour into the wind, the ship given to blowings, we were borne.]

16 with course into an isle, that is called Clauda; and scarcely we might get a little boat. [Soothly we running into some isle that is called Clauda, scarcely might get a little boat.]

17 And when this was taken up, they used helps, girding together the ship; and dreaded, lest they should fall into sandy places. And when the vessel was under-set, so they were borne. [The which taken up, with helps, they used girding together of the ship, dreading lest they should fall into the sandy places; the vessel under-set, so they were borne.]

18 And for we were thrown with strong tempest [Soothly us thrown with great tempest], in the day following they made casting out.

19 And the third day with their hands they cast away the instruments of the ship.

20 And when the sun neither the stars were seen by many days, and tempest not a little approached [Soothly neither sun neither stars appearing by many days, and tempest not little showing nigh], now all the hope of our health was done away.

21 And when much fasting had been, then Paul stood in the middle of them, and said, A! men, it behooved, when ye heard me, not to have taken away the ship from Crete, and get this wrong and casting out. [And when much fasting had been, then Paul standing in the middle of them said, A! men, it behooved me heard, to not take away from Crete, and to win this wrong and casting out.]

22 And now I counsel you to be of good comfort, for loss of no person of you shall be, except of the ship.[c]

23 For an angel of God, whose I am, and to whom I serve, stood nigh to me in this night [stood nigh to me this night],

24 and said, Paul, dread thou not; it behooveth thee to stand before the emperor [saying, Paul, dread thou not; it behooveth thee to stand nigh to Caesar]. And lo! God hath given to thee all that be in the ship with thee.

25 For which thing, ye men, be of good comfort [be of good comfort, or heart]; for I believe to my God, that so it shall be, as it is said to me.

26 And it behooveth us to come into some isle.

27 But afterward that in the fourteen day the night came on us sailing in the stony sea, about midnight the shipmen supposed some country to appear to them.

28 And they cast down a plummet, and found twenty fathoms of deepness. And after a little they were departed from thence, and found fifteen fathoms. [The which sending down a plummet, found twenty fathoms of deepness. And after a little they departed thence, found fifteen fathoms.]

29 And they dreaded, lest we should have fallen into sharp places; and from the last part of the ship they sent four anchors, and desired that the day had be come. [Soothly they dreading lest we should fall into sharp places, from the last part of the ship sending four anchors, desired day to be made.]

30 And when the shipmen sought to flee from the ship, when they had sent a little boat into the sea, under colour as they should begin to stretch forth the anchors from the former part of the ship,

31 Paul said to the centurion and to the knights, But these dwell in the ship, ye be not able to be made safe [ye may not be made safe].

32 Then [the] knights cutted [cut] away the cords of the little boat, and suffered it to fall away.

33 And when the day was come, Paul prayed all men to take meat, and said [saying], The fourteenth day this day ye abide, and dwell fasting, and take nothing [nothing taken].

34 Wherefore I pray you to take meat, for your health; for of none of you the hair of the head shall perish.

35 And when he had said these things, Paul took bread, and did thankings to God in the sight of all men [And when he had said these things, he taking bread did thankings to God in the sight of all men]; and when he had broken, he began to eat.

36 And all were made of better comfort [Forsooth all made more patient, or hearty], and they took meat.

37 And we were all men in the ship, two hundred seventy and six. [Soothly we were all the souls in the ship, two hundred seventy and six.]

38 And they were filled with meat, and discharged the ship, and cast wheat into the sea. [And they full-filled with meat, discharged the ship, casting out wheat into the sea.]

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 27:12 And when the haven was not able to dwell in winter, full many ordained counsel to sail thence, if in any manner they might come to Phenice, to wintern in the haven of Crete
  2. Acts 27:14 Soothly not after much time, the wind Tifonyk, that is called north east, or wind of tempest, sent him against it.
  3. Acts 27:22 And now I counsel you to be of good comfort, or heart; soothly there shall be loss of no soul of you, except of the ship.

Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Day of Atonement.[a](A) So Paul warned them, 10 “Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also.”(B) 11 But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship. 12 Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there. This was a harbor in Crete,(C) facing both southwest and northwest.

The Storm

13 When a gentle south wind began to blow, they saw their opportunity; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. 14 Before very long, a wind of hurricane force,(D) called the Northeaster, swept down from the island. 15 The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along. 16 As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the lifeboat(E) secure, 17 so the men hoisted it aboard. Then they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. Because they were afraid they would run aground(F) on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor[b] and let the ship be driven along. 18 We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard.(G) 19 On the third day, they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. 20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.

21 After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice(H) not to sail from Crete;(I) then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. 22 But now I urge you to keep up your courage,(J) because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. 23 Last night an angel(K) of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve(L) stood beside me(M) 24 and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar;(N) and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’(O) 25 So keep up your courage,(P) men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me.(Q) 26 Nevertheless, we must run aground(R) on some island.”(S)

The Shipwreck

27 On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriatic[c] Sea, when about midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land. 28 They took soundings and found that the water was a hundred and twenty feet[d] deep. A short time later they took soundings again and found it was ninety feet[e] deep. 29 Fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight. 30 In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let the lifeboat(T) down into the sea, pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow. 31 Then Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved.”(U) 32 So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it drift away.

33 Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. “For the last fourteen days,” he said, “you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food—you haven’t eaten anything. 34 Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.”(V) 35 After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it(W) and began to eat. 36 They were all encouraged(X) and ate some food themselves. 37 Altogether there were 276 of us on board. 38 When they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea.(Y)

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 27:9 That is, Yom Kippur
  2. Acts 27:17 Or the sails
  3. Acts 27:27 In ancient times the name referred to an area extending well south of Italy.
  4. Acts 27:28 Or about 37 meters
  5. Acts 27:28 Or about 27 meters