Acts 27:39-44

New International Reader's Version

³⁹ When daylight came, they saw a bay with a sandy beach. They didn’t recognize the place. But they decided to run the ship onto the beach if they could. ⁴⁰ So they cut the anchors loose and left them in the sea. At the same time, they untied the ropes that held the rudders. They lifted the sail at the front of the ship to the wind. Then they headed for the beach. ⁴¹ But the ship hit a sandbar. So the front of it got stuck and wouldn’t move. The back of the ship was broken to pieces by the pounding of the waves.

⁴² The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners. They wanted to keep them from swimming away and escaping. ⁴³ But the commander wanted to save Paul’s life. So he kept the soldiers from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and swim to land. ⁴⁴ The rest were supposed to get there on boards or other pieces of the ship. That is how everyone reached land safely.