When it was decided that we would sail for Italy, they handed Paul and some other prisoners over to a centurion of the Augustan Cohort named Julius.
We embarked on a ship from Adramyttium about to sail to the ports along the coast of Asia; and we put out to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica.
The next day we put in at Sidon; and Julius treated Paul kindly and allowed him to go to his friends and be cared for.
Then we set sail from there and put out to sea, and passed to the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us.
When we had sailed across the sea off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia.
There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and put us on board.
We made slow headway for many days, and with difficulty reached Cnidus; then sailing past it, we made for Crete, close to Salmone;
we made slow progress there and with difficulty reached a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea.
Since much time had passed, and the voyage was now dangerous because the Fast was already over, Paul advised them,
saying, “Men, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.”
Nevertheless, the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and the owner of the ship than to what Paul said.
Because the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided to set sail from there, intending to reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete facing southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.
When a gentle south wind began to blow, they thought they had obtained their purpose.
But soon a violent wind, called the Northeaster, rushed down from the island,
and the ship was caught and could not face the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along.
Running under the lee of the island of Cauda, we managed with difficulty to secure the boat;
after hoisting it up, they used supports to undergird the ship.
Because they were afraid that they would be dashed against the Syrtis Sands, they lowered the sea anchor and so were driven along.
As we were violently storm-tossed, the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard,
and on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands.
Since neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, all hope of our being saved was finally abandoned.
When they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss.
But now I urge you to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.
For last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship stood beside me,
and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and indeed God has granted safety to all those who are sailing with you.’
So keep up your courage, men, for I believe God that it will be just as I have been told.
Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.”
When the fourteenth night had come, as we were being driven across the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors suspected that they were nearing land.
They took soundings and found twenty fathoms; a little farther on they took soundings again and found fifteen fathoms.
Fearing that we might run on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come.
But as the sailors tried to escape from the ship, lowering the lifeboat into the sea on the pretense of laying out anchors from the bow,
Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.”
Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the lifeboat and let it drift away.
Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have been in suspense and going without food, having eaten nothing.
Therefore I urge you to take some food. It is for your survival that this has been kept from you until now, because none of you has lost a hair from your head.”
After he had said this, he took bread, gave thanks to God in front of them all, broke it, and began to eat.
Then all of them were encouraged and ate some food themselves.
They had about 276 persons on board.
When they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship by throwing the wheat into the sea.
When day came, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a sandy beach, where they planned to run the ship ashore if they could.
Then they let go the anchors and left them in the sea, while at the same time loosening the ropes that tied the rudders.
They hoisted the foresail to the wind and made for the beach.
But the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground; the bow stuck fast and remained immobile, while the stern was being broken up by the waves.
The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, so that none of them might swim away and escape.
But the centurion, wanting 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,
and the rest were to follow, some on planks and others on pieces of the ship.
In this way everyone reached land safely.
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