Shipwreck

When it was decided to sail for Italy, Paul and other prisoners were delivered to Julius, a centurion of the Augustan band, who treated Paul kindly and let him visit friends at Sidon. The winds were contrary. At Myra they boarded a ship of Alexandria bound for Italy. Sailing slowly, they came with difficulty to Fair Havens. Paul warned that the voyage would be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and ship, but also of their lives. The centurion trusted the master and owner more than Paul, and the majority advised sailing on to winter at Phoenix.

Soon a stormy wind called Euroclydon beat down. The ship was caught and could not face the wind, so they let it be driven. They used cables to help undergird the ship, lowered the gear, threw cargo and then the ship's tackle overboard. When neither sun nor stars shone for many days and no small storm pressed on them, all hope that they would be saved was taken away.

After long abstinence from food, Paul stood up. He said they should have listened to him, but he urged them to cheer up, for there would be no loss of life, only of the ship. An angel of the God to whom he belonged and whom he served had told him not to be afraid; he must stand before Caesar, and God had granted him all who sailed with him. "Therefore, sirs, cheer up! For I believe God, that it will be just as it has been spoken to me." They would be cast on a certain island.

On the fourteenth night, sounding the depth, the sailors suspected land and tried to flee in the boat, but Paul warned that unless they stayed in the ship, the others could not be saved, and the soldiers cut away the boat. Before dawn Paul urged all to eat, took bread, gave thanks to God in the presence of all, broke it, and began to eat. They were 276 souls. At day the ship struck a place where two seas met, and the stern broke apart. The soldiers counseled to kill the prisoners so none would escape, but the centurion, desiring to save Paul, stopped them. Those who could swim went first, and the rest followed on planks and pieces of the ship. So they all escaped safely to the land.