War with the Philistines

13 Saul was ^[a]thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned ^[b]forty two years over Israel.

² Now Saul chose for himself 3,000 men of Israel, of which 2,000 were with Saul in ^(A)Michmash and in the hill country of Bethel, while 1,000 were with Jonathan at ^(B)Gibeah of Benjamin. But he sent away the rest of the people, each to his tent. ³ Jonathan smote ^(C)the garrison of the Philistines that was in ^(D)Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. Then Saul ^(E)blew the trumpet throughout the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear.” ⁴ All Israel heard ^[c]the news that Saul had smitten the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel ^(F)had become odious to the Philistines. The people were then summoned ^[d]to Saul at Gilgal.

⁵ Now the Philistines assembled to fight with Israel, 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen, and ^(G)people like the sand which is on the seashore in abundance; and they came up and camped in Michmash, east of ^(H)Beth-aven. ⁶ When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait (for the people were hard-pressed), then ^(I)the people hid themselves in caves, in thickets, in cliffs, in cellars, and in pits. ⁷ Also some of the Hebrews crossed the Jordan into the land of ^(J)Gad and Gilead. But as for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.

⁸ Now ^(K)he waited seven days, according to the appointed time set by Samuel, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattering from him. ⁹ So Saul said, “Bring to me the burnt offering and the peace offerings.” And ^(L)he offered the burnt offering. ¹⁰ As soon as he finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and ^(M)Saul went out to meet him and to ^[e]greet him. ¹¹ But Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “Because I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the appointed days, and that ^(N)the Philistines were assembling at Michmash, ¹² therefore I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not asked the favor of the Lord.’ So I forced myself and offered the burnt offering.” ¹³ Samuel said to Saul, “^(O)You have acted foolishly; ^(P)you have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, for now the Lord would have established your kingdom ^[f]over Israel ^(Q)forever. ¹⁴ But ^(R)now your kingdom shall not endure. ^(S)The Lord has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”

¹⁵ Then Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal to ^(T)Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul ^[g]numbered the people who were present with him, ^(U)about six hundred men. ¹⁶ Now Saul and his son Jonathan and the people who were present with them were staying in ^(V)Geba of Benjamin while the Philistines camped at Michmash. ¹⁷ And ^(W)the ^[h]raiders came from the camp of the Philistines in three ^[i]companies: one ^[j]company turned ^[k]toward ^(X)Ophrah, to the land of Shual, ¹⁸ and another ^[l]company turned ^[m]toward ^(Y)Beth-horon, and another ^[n]company turned ^[o]toward the border which overlooks the valley of ^(Z)Zeboim toward the wilderness.

¹⁹ Now ^(AA)no blacksmith could be found in all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Otherwise the Hebrews will make ^[p](AB)swords or spears.” ²⁰ So all Israel went down to the Philistines, each to sharpen his plowshare, his mattock, his axe, and his hoe. ²¹ The charge was ^[q]two-thirds of a shekel for the plowshares, the mattocks, the forks, and the axes, and to fix the hoes. ²² So it came about on the day of battle that ^(AC)neither sword nor spear was found in the hands of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan, but they were found with Saul and his son Jonathan. ²³ And ^(AD)the garrison of the Philistines went out to ^(AE)the pass of Michmash.

Teth.

Paul Is Sent to Rome

27 When it was decided that ^(A)we ^(B)would sail for ^(C)Italy, they proceeded to deliver Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan ^[a](D)cohort named Julius. ² And embarking in an Adramyttian ship, which was about to sail to the regions along the coast of ^[b](E)Asia, we put out to sea accompanied by ^(F)Aristarchus, a ^(G)Macedonian of ^(H)Thessalonica. ³ The next day we put in at ^(I)Sidon; and Julius ^(J)treated Paul with consideration and ^(K)allowed him to go to his friends and receive care. ⁴ From there we put out to sea and sailed under the shelter of ^(L)Cyprus because ^(M)the winds were contrary. ⁵ When we had sailed through the sea along the coast of ^(N)Cilicia and ^(O)Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia. ⁶ There the centurion found an ^(P)Alexandrian ship sailing for ^(Q)Italy, and he put us aboard it. ⁷ When we had sailed slowly for a good many days, and with difficulty had arrived off Cnidus, ^(R)since the wind did not permit us to go farther, we sailed under the shelter of ^(S)Crete, off Salmone; ⁸ and with difficulty ^(T)sailing past it we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea.

⁹ When considerable time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous, since even ^(U)the ^[c]fast was already over, Paul began to admonish them, ¹⁰ and said to them, “Men, I perceive that the voyage will certainly be with ^(V)damage and great loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.” ¹¹ But the centurion was more persuaded by the ^(W)pilot and the ^[d]captain of the ship than by what was being said by Paul. ¹² Because the harbor was not suitable for wintering, the majority reached a decision to put out to sea from there, if somehow they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of ^(X)Crete, facing southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.

^13 [e]When a moderate south wind came up, supposing that they had attained their purpose, they weighed anchor and began ^(Y)sailing along ^(Z)Crete, close inshore.

Shipwreck

¹⁴ But before very long there ^(AA)rushed down from ^[f]the land a violent wind, called ^[g]Euraquilo; ¹⁵ and when the ship was caught in it and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and let ourselves be driven along. ¹⁶ Running under the shelter of a small island called Clauda, we were scarcely able to get the ship’s ^[h]boat under control. ¹⁷ After they had hoisted it up, they used ^[i]supporting cables in undergirding the ship; and fearing that they might ^(AB)run aground on the shallows of Syrtis, they let down the ^[j]sea anchor and in this way let themselves be driven along. ¹⁸ The next day as we were being violently storm-tossed, ^[k]they began to ^(AC)jettison the cargo; ¹⁹ and on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. ²⁰ Since neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small storm was assailing us, from then on all hope of our being saved was gradually abandoned.

^21 [l]When they had gone a long time without food, then Paul stood up in their midst and said, “^(AD)Men, you ought to have ^[m]followed my advice and not to have set sail from ^(AE)Crete and ^[n]incurred this ^(AF)damage and loss. ²² Yet now I urge you to ^(AG)keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. ²³ For this very night ^(AH)an angel of the God to whom I belong and ^(AI)whom I serve ^(AJ)stood before me, ²⁴ saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; ^(AK)you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has granted you ^(AL)all those who are sailing with you.’ ²⁵ Therefore, ^(AM)keep up your courage, men, for I believe God that ^[o]it will turn out exactly as I have been told. ²⁶ But we must ^(AN)run aground on a certain ^(AO)island.”

²⁷ But when the fourteenth night came, as we were being driven about in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors began to surmise that ^[p]they were approaching some land. ²⁸ They took soundings and found it to be twenty fathoms; and a little farther on they took another sounding and found it to be fifteen fathoms. ²⁹ Fearing that we might ^(AP)run aground somewhere on the ^[q]rocks, they cast four anchors from the stern and ^[r]wished for daybreak. ³⁰ But as the sailors were trying to escape from the ship and had let down ^(AQ)the ship’s boat into the sea, on the pretense of intending to lay out anchors from the bow, ³¹ Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, “Unless these men remain in the ship, you yourselves cannot be saved.” ³² Then the soldiers cut away the ^(AR)ropes of the ship’s boat and let it fall away.

³³ Until the day was about to dawn, Paul was encouraging them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have been constantly watching and going without eating, having taken nothing. ³⁴ Therefore I encourage you to take some food, for this is for your preservation, for ^(AS)not a hair from the head of any of you will perish.” ³⁵ Having said this, he took bread and ^(AT)gave thanks to God in the presence of all, and he broke it and began to eat. ³⁶ All ^(AU)of them ^[s]were encouraged and they themselves also took food. ³⁷ All of us in the ship were two hundred and seventy-six ^[t](AV)persons. ³⁸ When they had eaten enough, they began to lighten the ship by ^(AW)throwing out the wheat into the sea.

³⁹ When day came, ^(AX)they ^[u]could not recognize the land; but they did observe a bay with a beach, and they resolved to drive the ship onto it if they could. ⁴⁰ And casting off ^(AY)the anchors, they left them in the sea while at the same time they were loosening the ropes of the rudders; and hoisting the foresail to the wind, they were heading for the beach. ⁴¹ But striking a ^[v]reef where two seas met, they ran the vessel aground; and the prow stuck fast and remained immovable, but the stern began to be broken up by the force of the waves. ⁴² The soldiers’ plan was to ^(AZ)kill the prisoners, so that none of them would swim away and escape; ⁴³ but the centurion, ^(BA)wanting to bring Paul safely through, kept them from their intention, and commanded that those who could swim should ^[w]jump overboard first and get to land, ⁴⁴ and the rest should follow, some on planks, and others on various things from the ship. And so it happened that ^(BB)they all were brought safely to land.