Acts 27:18-28:10

New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised

¹⁸ We were being pounded by the storm so violently that on the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard, ¹⁹ and on the third day with their own hands they threw the ship’s tackle overboard. ²⁰ When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest raged, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.

²¹ Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul then stood up among them and said, ‘Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and thereby avoided this damage and loss. ²² I urge you now to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. ²³ For last night there stood by me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, ²⁴ and he said, “Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before the emperor; and indeed, God has granted safety to all those who are sailing with you.” ²⁵ So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. ²⁶ But we will have to run aground on some island.’

²⁷ When the fourteenth night had come, as we were drifting across the sea of Adria, about midnight the sailors suspected that they were nearing land. ²⁸ So they took soundings and found twenty fathoms; a little farther on they took soundings again and found fifteen fathoms. ²⁹ Fearing that we might run on the rocks, they let down four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come. ³⁰ But when the sailors tried to escape from the ship and had lowered the boat into the sea, on the pretext of putting out anchors from the bow, ³¹ Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, ‘Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.’ ³² Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the boat and set it adrift.

³³ Just before daybreak, Paul urged all of them to take some food, saying, ‘Today is the fourteenth day that you have been in suspense and remaining without food, having eaten nothing. ³⁴ Therefore I urge you to take some food, for it will help you survive; for none of you will lose a hair from your heads.’ ³⁵ After he had said this, he took bread; and giving thanks to God in the presence of all, he broke it and began to eat. ³⁶ Then all of them were encouraged and took food for themselves. ³⁷ (We were in all two hundred and seventy-six^[a] persons in the ship.) ³⁸ After they had satisfied their hunger, they lightened the ship by throwing the wheat into the sea.

The Shipwreck

³⁹ In the morning they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, on which they planned to run the ship ashore, if they could. ⁴⁰ So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea. At the same time they loosened the ropes that tied the steering-oars; then hoisting the foresail to the wind, they made for the beach. ⁴¹ But striking a reef,^[b] they ran the ship aground; the bow stuck and remained immovable, but the stern was being broken up by the force of the waves. ⁴² The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, so that none might swim away and escape; ⁴³ but the centurion, wishing to save Paul, kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and make for the land, ⁴⁴ and the rest to follow, some on planks and others on pieces of the ship. And so it was that all were brought safely to land.

Paul on the Island of Malta

28 After we had reached safety, we then learned that the island was called Malta. ² The natives showed us unusual kindness. Since it had begun to rain and was cold, they kindled a fire and welcomed all of us round it. ³ Paul had gathered a bundle of brushwood and was putting it on the fire, when a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. ⁴ When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, ‘This man must be a murderer; though he has escaped from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.’ ⁵ He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. ⁶ They were expecting him to swell up or drop dead, but after they had waited a long time and saw that nothing unusual had happened to him, they changed their minds and began to say that he was a god.

⁷ Now in the neighbourhood of that place were lands belonging to the leading man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days. ⁸ It so happened that the father of Publius lay sick in bed with fever and dysentery. Paul visited him and cured him by praying and putting his hands on him. ⁹ After this happened, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured. ¹⁰ They bestowed many honours on us, and when we were about to sail, they put on board all the provisions we needed.