Departure for Rome
1 ① When it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they handed over Paul and the other prisoners into the care of an officer of the Augustan battalion, named Julius. 2We boarded a ship of Adramyttium bound for the Asian coasts, and we left accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from the city of Thessalonica. 3We arrived at Sidon on the next day. Julius was very kind to Paul, letting him visit his friends and be cared for by them.
4From there, we sailed along the sheltered coast of Cyprus, because the winds were against us. 5We sailed across the seas off Cilicia and Pamphylia and arrived at Myra in Lycia. 6There the captain found a ship from Alexandria sailing for Italy and made us board it.
7We sailed slowly for several days, and arrived with great difficulty at Cnidus. As the wind did not allow us to enter that port, we sailed for the shelter of Crete with the Cape of Salmone within sight. 8We turned with difficulty and arrived at a place called Good Ports, near the city of Lasea.
9Time passed and the crossing began to be dangerous: we had already celebrated the feast of the Fast. 10Then Paul said to them: “Friends, I believe that it would not be very wise to proceed with our crossing for we could lose not only the cargo and the ship but also our lives.” 11But the Roman officer relied more on the ship’s captain and the owner of the ship than on the words of Paul. 12And as the port was not suitable for wintering, the majority agreed to set out from there in the hope of reaching the harbor of Crete called Phoenix, overlooking Africa and Choros, where they could spend the winter.
Storm and shipwreck
13Then the south wind began to blow and they thought that they had gained their purpose; they weighed anchor and sailed along the island of Crete. 14But a little later, a strong wind called “the northeaster” swept down on them, from across the island. 15The ship was dragged along and could not face the wind, so that we remained adrift.
16As we were crossing under the lee of the small island of Cauda, we managed – but with effort – to secure the lifeboat. 17After lifting it aboard, they used cables to undergird the hull, and since we feared running aground on the sands of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor. So we continued to be dragged along.
18The storm lashed at us so strongly that on the next day they began throwing the cargo over board. 19On the third day the sailors with their own hands threw out the ship’s gear. 20For several days neither the sun nor the stars could be seen, and the tempest had not subsided: we lost all hope of saving ourselves.
21As we had not eaten for days, Paul stood up among them and said: “Friends, if you had followed my advice when I told you not to set sail from Crete, we would not be in such danger now, and we could have avoided this loss. 22But now I invite you to regain courage for no one among you shall die; only the ship shall be destroyed. 23Last night there appeared to me an angel of my God to whom I serve, 24and he said to me: ‘Paul, do not be afraid, you must present yourself before Caesar’s tribunal, and God has guaranteed you the life of all those who sail with you.’
25Have courage, therefore, my friends, for I trust in God that it will be just as he told me. 26But we have to run aground on some island.”
27Near midnight on the fourteenth night, as we were drifting in the Adriatic Sea, the sailors suspected that land was near. 28They measured the depth of the water and it was thirty-seven meters. After a while, they measured it again and it was twenty-seven meters. 29They feared that we might hit some rocks, so they cast out four anchors from the stern and waited anxiously for morning. 30Then the sailors tried to escape from the ship under the pretext of extending the cables of the anchors from the bow, so they lowered the lifeboat into the sea. 31But Paul said to the captain and to the soldiers: “If they leave the ship, you can not be saved. 32So the soldiers cut the mooring cables of the boat and let it fall.
33As they waited for dawn, Paul urged everyone: “For fourteen days you have not eaten anything because of anxious waiting. 34I ask you to eat now if you want to live; be sure that not even a hair of your head will be lost.” 35Having said this, he took bread, gave thanks to God in everybody’s presence, broke it and began to eat. 36All were encouraged and they too ate. 37They were two hundred and seventy-six persons in all. 38When they had eaten enough, they threw the wheat into the sea to lighten the boat.
39When morning came, they did not recognize the land but noticed a bay with a beach, so they decided to run the ship aground, if possible. 40They cast off the anchors and left them in the sea; at the same time, they loosened the ropes of the rudders, hoisted the foresail to the wind and headed for the beach. 41But they struck a sandbank and the ship ran aground. The bow stuck and was im movable, while the stern was broken up by the violent waves.
42The soldiers then planned to kill the prisoners for fear that some of them might escape by swimming. 43But the captain, who wished to save Paul, did not allow them to do this. He ordered those who knew how to swim, to be the first to jump into the water and head for the shore, 44and the rest to hold on to planks or pieces of the ship. So all of us reached land safe and sound.
- Acts 27,1 Paul is taken to Rome with a group of prisoners. It is not difficult for us to imagine that even if the officer shows him much consideration his situation is not all comfort. This officer has his own authority besides that of the ship's captain: the soldiers know that if a prisoner should escape, his guard would be executed (see 12:19 and 27:42). This account is a very interesting document on navigation in the Mediterranean at that time. Luke has given plentiful details: what a contrast with the account of Jonah and the tempest, written doubtless by someone who had never sailed. It is obvious that Paul was familiar with this kind of journeying: in 2 Cor 11:25, he states having been ship-wrecked three times. Paul's inner strength stands out in the description of the storm: Paul knows he is to testify before the tribunal of the emperor.
