Beginning

27 The date was set for us to depart for Rome, and Paul and some other prisoners were transferred to the custody of a Roman officer named Julius, a member of the Augustan Division. ² I, Luke, was permitted to join Paul for his journey to Rome, along with Aristarchus, a Macedonian brother from Thessalonica. We boarded a ship from Adramyttium that was stopping in ports along the coast of Asia. ³ We stopped the next day at Sidon, and Julius kindly allowed Paul to visit friends and be taken care of by them. ⁴ We sailed from there north of Cyprus because the winds were unfavorable. ⁵ We passed Cilicia and Pamphylia on our right and then came to Myra in Lycia. ⁶ There Julius found a ship from Alexandria heading directly to Italy, to which we transferred. ⁷ The winds were still contrary, so we made slow progress for a number of days and with difficulty passed Cnidus and sailed south toward Crete and past Cape Salmone on its eastern end. ⁸ Sailing conditions were adverse to say the least. Finally we came to a place called Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea on the south coast of Crete. ⁹ We had lost a lot of time already—it was late in the year for sailing—following the Day of Atonement, and conditions had deteriorated from adverse to dangerous. Paul tried to warn those in charge.

¹¹ But the officer ignored Paul and instead trusted the ship’s pilot and owner who felt they could proceed.

¹² We had two choices. We could anchor in the harbor at Fair Havens and spend the winter, or we could proceed west along the coastline, hoping to reach Phoenix and wait there for calmer spring weather. Fair Havens was not a good option, though, being vulnerable to winter storms; so most of us agreed we should try to reach Phoenix, whose harbor was more protected. ¹³ One day a moderate south wind began to blow, which made an attempt possible. We weighed anchor and sailed west, staying near shore. ¹⁴ Then things got scary. A violent northeaster, the Euraquilo, blew down across Crete. ¹⁵ We were caught. We couldn’t turn and sail into this fierce wind, so we had no choice but to let it drive us. ¹⁶ We briefly found a bit of shelter from the wind near the island of Clauda. We had been having trouble securing the ship’s lifeboat; ¹⁷ but we were able there to hoist it up and send down cables to brace the hull, which was in danger of breaking apart under the strain of the storm. The wind was relentless, and soon we were again being driven southwest at the mercy of the storm. We feared it would drive us all the way to the Syrtis Banks, down near the North African coast, so we threw out the sea anchor to slow us down. ¹⁸ All through the night, the storm pounded us violently. The next day, the crew threw the ship’s cargo overboard; ¹⁹ and the day after that, they discarded any of the ship’s equipment they could do without. ²⁰ Days passed without relief from the furious winds, without a single break in the clouds to see sun or stars, even for a moment. Despair set in, as if all hope of rescue had been cast overboard as well. ²¹ On top of all of this, the crew had been unable to eat anything because of the turmoil. Paul saw the crew had reached a critical moment. He gathered them.

^27-28 Imagine what happened: It’s the 14th night of our nightmare voyage; we’re being driven by the storm somewhere in the Adriatic Sea. It’s about midnight, and the sailors are taking soundings, fearing we might run aground. “Twenty fathoms,” somebody calls out in the darkness, then a little later, “Fifteen fathoms.” We’re nearing land! ²⁹ But hope quickly gives way to a new fear. At any moment in this darkness, they realize, we could be smashed onto unseen rocks. So they drop four anchors from the stern and pray for first light.

³⁰ Then some of the crew decide to make a run for it on their own. They say they need to let out more anchors from the bow, and this will require lowering the ship’s lifeboat. They actually plan to abandon us; we realize what’s going on. ³¹ Paul quickly speaks to the officer and soldiers.

³² So the soldiers intervene, cut away the lifeboat, and let it drift away. ^{33, 37} We wait. Just before dawn, Paul again gathers everyone on the ship—all 276 of us. He urges everyone to eat and encourages us not to lose hope.^[a]

³⁵ Then Paul takes a loaf of bread and gives thanks to God in front of all of them. He breaks it, takes a piece, and begins to eat. ³⁶ A fresh surge of courage seems to fill their hearts as they also begin to eat. ³⁸ After satisfying their hunger, the crew lightens the ship by throwing the remaining wheat overboard. ³⁹ Day finally breaks. They survey the coastline and don’t recognize it, but they do notice a bay with a beach—the best place to try to run ashore.

⁴⁰ So they cut the anchor ropes, untie the steering oars, hoist the foresail to the wind, and make for the beach. ⁴¹ But then there’s a horrible sound, and we realize we’ve struck a reef; the bow is jammed solid, and the waves are smashing the stern to pieces. ⁴² The soldiers start talking about killing the prisoners so they won’t swim away and escape; ⁴³ but the officer wants to save Paul, so he stops them. He tells those who can swim to jump overboard and swim to the shore, ⁴⁴ and those who can’t, he tells to hold on to planks and other pieces of the ship when it breaks apart. Some hours later, we reassemble on the beach, each one safe and sound.

28 We quickly learned that we were on the island of Malta. ² The Maltese people found us and were extraordinarily kind to us. They kindled a bonfire and welcomed us around it, which we greatly appreciated because it was raining and cold. ³ Paul was gathering firewood and helping build the fire. A viper had been hiding in some of the wood, and as it tried to escape the heat, it bit Paul on the hand. It sank its fangs in and wouldn’t let go. ⁴ The natives saw it dangling from his hand.

⁵ Paul simply shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no harm. ⁶ The natives knew what to expect—rapid swelling followed by death—but when they waited a long time and saw that Paul suffered no ill effects of the bite, they changed their minds and concluded that he was a god.

⁷ The leading man of the island, Publius, owned large amounts of land near this beach. Publius received us and hosted us for three days. ⁸ Publius’s father was sick, bedridden with fever and dysentery. Paul visited the invalid and prayed for him, placing his hands on Publius’s father. The man was cured. ⁹ Soon people from all over the island who had diseases came, and they were cured as well.

^10-11 We stayed on Malta for the next three months and were treated with great honor. When spring arrived, we prepared to continue our journey on a ship that had wintered there—an Alexandrian vessel with the Twin Brothers as its figurehead. The Maltese people showed us a final kindness as we departed: they came with all the provisions we needed for our journey and put them on board.

¹² We set sail from Malta and stopped first at Syracuse. After three days, ¹³ we weighed anchor and came to Rhegium. We waited there a day, and then a south wind sprang up and sped us to Puteoli. ¹⁴ We found some believers there, and they invited us to stay with them for seven days. Then we reached Rome. ¹⁵ The believers from Rome heard we were coming, so they traveled out to meet us at the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns. Paul thanked God and felt encouraged to see them. ¹⁶ Once inside the city, Paul lived under house arrest by himself, with only one soldier to guard him.

¹⁷ Three days after his arrival, he called together the local Jewish leaders.

²³ They scheduled a day to meet again, and a large number came to his lodging. From morning until evening, he explained his message to them—giving his account of the kingdom of God, trying to convince them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and the Prophets’ writings. ²⁴ Some were convinced, but others refused to believe.

[²⁹ Then the local Jewish leaders left Paul to discuss all he had told them.]^[c]

³⁰ For two full years, he lived there in Rome, paying all his own expenses, receiving all who came to him. ³¹ With great confidence and with no hindrance, he proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the ultimate authority—the Lord Jesus, God’s Anointed, the Liberating King.