Acts 27:39-28:16

Common English Bible

³⁹ In the morning light they saw a bay with a sandy beach. They didn’t know what land it was, but they thought they might possibly be able to run the ship aground. ⁴⁰ They cut the anchors loose and left them in the sea. At the same time, they untied the ropes that ran back to the rudders. They raised the foresail to catch the wind and made for the beach. ⁴¹ But they struck a sandbar and the ship ran aground. The bow was stuck and wouldn’t move, and the stern was broken into pieces by the force of the waves. ⁴² The soldiers decided to kill the prisoners to keep them from swimming to shore and escaping. ⁴³ However, the centurion wanted to save Paul, so he stopped them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and head for land. ⁴⁴ He ordered the rest to grab hold of planks or debris from the ship. In this way, everyone reached land safely.

On the Island of Malta

28 After reaching land safely, we learned that the island was called Malta. ² The islanders showed us extraordinary kindness. Because it was rainy and cold, they built a fire and welcomed all of us. ³ Paul gathered a bunch of dry sticks and put them on the fire. As he did, a poisonous snake, driven out by the heat, latched on to his hand. ⁴ When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer! He was rescued from the sea, but the goddess Justice hasn’t let him live!” ⁵ Paul shook the snake into the fire and suffered no harm. ⁶ They expected him to swell up with fever or suddenly drop dead. After waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and began to claim that he was a god.

⁷ Publius, the island’s most prominent person, owned a large estate in that area. He welcomed us warmly into his home as his guests for three days. ⁸ Publius’ father was bedridden, sick with a fever and dysentery. Paul went to see him and prayed. He placed his hand on him and healed him. ⁹ Once this happened, the rest of the sick on the island came to him and were healed. ¹⁰ They honored us in many ways. When we were getting ready to sail again, they supplied us with what we needed.

Paul makes it to Rome

¹¹ After three months we put out to sea in a ship that had spent the winter at the island. It was an Alexandrian ship with carvings of the twin gods Castor and Pollux as its figurehead. ¹² We landed in Syracuse where we stayed three days. ¹³ From there we sailed to Rhegium. After one day a south wind came up, and we arrived on the second day in Puteoli. ¹⁴ There we found brothers and sisters who urged us to stay with them for a week. In this way we came to Rome. ¹⁵ When the brothers and sisters there heard about us, they came as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns to meet us. When Paul saw them, he gave thanks to God and was encouraged. ¹⁶ When we entered Rome, Paul was permitted to live by himself, with a soldier guarding him.