Acts 27:1-25

It was decided that we would sail for Italy. An officer named Julius, who served in the emperor’s army, guarded Paul and some other prisoners. We got on a ship that was from the city of Adramyttium and was about to sail to different ports in Asia. Aristarchus, a man from the city of Thessalonica in Macedonia, went with us. The next day we came to Sidon. Julius was very good to Paul and gave him freedom to go visit his friends, who took care of his needs. We left Sidon and sailed close to the island of Cyprus, because the wind was blowing against us. We went across the sea by Cilicia and Pamphylia and landed at the city of Myra, in Lycia. There the officer found a ship from Alexandria that was going to Italy, so he put us on it. We sailed slowly for many days. We had a hard time reaching Cnidus because the wind was blowing against us, and we could not go any farther. So we sailed by the south side of the island of Crete near Salmone. Sailing past it was hard. Then we came to a place called Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea. We had lost much time, and it was now dangerous to sail, because it was already after the Day of Cleansing. So Paul warned them, “Men, I can see there will be a lot of trouble on this trip. The ship, the cargo, and even our lives may be lost.” But the captain and the owner of the ship did not agree with Paul, and the officer believed what the captain and owner of the ship said. Since that harbor was not a good place for the ship to stay for the winter, most of the men decided that the ship should leave. They hoped we could go to Phoenix and stay there for the winter. Phoenix, a city on the island of Crete, had a harbor which faced southwest and northwest. When a good wind began to blow from the south, the men on the ship thought, “This is the wind we wanted, and now we have it.” So they pulled up the anchor, and we sailed very close to the island of Crete. But then a very strong wind named the “northeaster” came from the island. The ship was caught in it and could not sail against it. So we stopped trying and let the wind carry us. When we went below a small island named Cauda, we were barely able to bring in the lifeboat. After the men took the lifeboat in, they tied ropes around the ship to hold it together. The men were afraid that the ship would hit the sandbanks of Syrtis, so they lowered the sail and let the wind carry the ship. The next day the storm was blowing us so hard that the men threw out some of the cargo. A day later with their own hands they threw out the ship’s equipment. When we could not see the sun or the stars for many days, and the storm was very bad, we lost all hope of being saved. After the men had gone without food for a long time, Paul stood up before them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me. You should not have sailed from Crete. Then you would not have all this trouble and loss. But now I tell you to cheer up because none of you will die. Only the ship will be lost. Last night an angel came to me from the God I belong to and worship. The angel said, ‘Paul, do not be afraid. You must stand before Caesar. And God has promised you that he will save the lives of everyone sailing with you.’ So men, have courage. I trust in God that everything will happen as his angel told me.