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.