¹⁰ “Men,” he said, “I believe there is trouble ahead if we go on—shipwreck, loss of cargo, and danger to our lives as well.”

⁴¹ But they hit a shoal and ran the ship aground too soon. The bow of the ship stuck fast, while the stern was repeatedly smashed by the force of the waves and began to break apart.

⁴² The soldiers wanted to kill the prisoners to make sure they didn’t swim ashore and escape. ⁴³ But the commanding officer wanted to spare Paul, so he didn’t let them carry out their plan. Then he ordered all who could swim to jump overboard first and make for land. ⁴⁴ The others held on to planks or debris from the broken ship.^[a] So everyone escaped safely to shore.

²⁰ The terrible storm raged for many days, blotting out the sun and the stars, until at last all hope was gone.

²¹ No one had eaten for a long time. Finally, Paul called the crew together and said, “Men, you should have listened to me in the first place and not left Crete. You would have avoided all this damage and loss. ²² But take courage! None of you will lose your lives, even though the ship will go down. ²³ For last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me, ²⁴ and he said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul, for you will surely stand trial before Caesar! What’s more, God in his goodness has granted safety to everyone sailing with you.’ ²⁵ So take courage! For I believe God. It will be just as he said. ²⁶ But we will be shipwrecked on an island.”

³⁰ And it is not because I am wiser than anyone else that I know the secret of your dream, but because God wants you to understand what was in your heart.

³⁴ “Please eat something now for your own good. For not a hair of your heads will perish.”

⁹ But immediately Elisha, the man of God, would warn the king of Israel, “Do not go near that place, for the Arameans are planning to mobilize their troops there.” ¹⁰ So the king of Israel would send word to the place indicated by the man of God. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he would be on the alert there.

³⁸ So Pharaoh asked his officials, “Can we find anyone else like this man so obviously filled with the spirit of God?” ³⁹ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has revealed the meaning of the dreams to you, clearly no one else is as intelligent or wise as you are.

¹⁶ “It is beyond my power to do this,” Joseph replied. “But God can tell you what it means and set you at ease.”

¹⁷ So Pharaoh told Joseph his dream. “In my dream,” he said, “I was standing on the bank of the Nile River, ¹⁸ and I saw seven fat, healthy cows come up out of the river and begin grazing in the marsh grass. ¹⁹ But then I saw seven sick-looking cows, scrawny and thin, come up after them. I’ve never seen such sorry-looking animals in all the land of Egypt. ²⁰ These thin, scrawny cows ate the seven fat cows. ²¹ But afterward you wouldn’t have known it, for they were still as thin and scrawny as before! Then I woke up.

²² “In my dream I also saw seven heads of grain, full and beautiful, growing on a single stalk. ²³ Then seven more heads of grain appeared, but these were blighted, shriveled, and withered by the east wind. ²⁴ And the shriveled heads swallowed the seven healthy heads. I told these dreams to the magicians, but no one could tell me what they mean.”

²⁵ Joseph responded, “Both of Pharaoh’s dreams mean the same thing. God is telling Pharaoh in advance what he is about to do.