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Acts 27: The course they set, and the course the wind gave them

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Aegean SeaIonian SeaMediterranean SeaPuteoli — Acts 28Rhegium — Acts 28Rome — Acts 28Forum of Appius — Acts 28Three Taverns — Acts 28ItalyAdramyttiumAsiaThessalonicaSidonCyprusCiliciaLyciaMyraPamphyliaAlexandriaCnidusCreteSalmoneFair HavensLaseaPhoenixCaudaSyrtisAdriatic SeaItalyRomeThree TavernsForum of AppiusPuteoliRhegium
Acts 28

Acts 27:1ESV

And when it was decided that we should sail for , they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan Cohort named Julius.

Acts 27:2ESV

And embarking in a ship of , which was about to sail to the ports along the coast of , we put to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from .

Acts 27:3ESV

The next day we put in at . And Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him leave to go to his friends and be cared for.

Acts 27:4ESV

And putting out to sea from there we sailed under the lee of , because the winds were against us.

Acts 27:5ESV

And when we had sailed across the open sea along the coast of and , we came to in .

Acts 27:6ESV

There the centurion found a ship of sailing for and put us on board.

Acts 27:7ESV

We sailed slowly for a number of days and arrived with difficulty off , and as the wind did not allow us to go farther, we sailed under the lee of off .

Acts 27:8ESV

Coasting along it with difficulty, we came to a place called , near which was the city of .

Acts 27:12ESV

And because the harbor was not suitable to spend the winter in, the majority decided to put out to sea from there, on the chance that somehow they could reach , a harbor of , facing both southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.

Acts 27:13ESV

Now when the south wind blew gently, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along , close to the shore.

Acts 27:14ESV

But soon a tempestuous wind, called the northeaster, struck down from the land.

Acts 27:16ESV

Running under the lee of a small island called , we managed with difficulty to secure the ship's boat.

Acts 27:17ESV

After hoisting it up, they used supports to undergird the ship. Then, fearing that they would run aground on the , they lowered the gear, and thus they were driven along.

Acts 27:21ESV

Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from and incurred this injury and loss.

Acts 27:27ESV

When the fourteenth night had come, as we were being driven across the , about midnight the sailors suspected that they were nearing land.

Acts 28:1ESV

After we were brought safely through, we then learned that the island was called .

Acts 28

Paul sails for Rome under guard, and the chapter is largely a record of where the weather permitted the ship to be. Two ships carry him: a coaster from Adramyttium as far as Myra, then an Alexandrian grain ship bound for Italy. Both are working the same problem — westerly winds in the last safe weeks of the sailing season — which is why the track takes the sheltered side of Cyprus, crawls as far as Cnidus, and slips under Crete at Salmone instead of running straight for Italy. At Fair Havens the argument is about a harbour, and the majority vote for Phoenix, forty miles west. They never reach it. A north-easter comes down off the Cretan hills in verse 14 and does not give the ship back for fourteen nights. After that the chapter can name only a small island called Cauda, a shoal they dread, and a sea they are somewhere in. It ends on a beach nobody aboard recognises — and the next chapter names it.

Map of Acts 27: The course they set, and the course the wind gave them — 20 sites plotted
20 sites from Acts 27 on one frame. The map at the top of the page is the same drawing, and it walks the verses with you.

Regions on this map

Verses 1-5: a coaster out of Adramyttium works north and west with the wind against her, taking the sheltered side of Cyprus and the lee of the Cilician shore.

Verses 6-8: a grain ship out of Alexandria makes Cnidus with difficulty, gives up the direct course to Italy, and runs down under Crete instead.

Verses 9-13: whether to winter in an open roadstead or run forty miles west to a better one. Paul says stay; the pilot, the owner and the majority say go.

Verses 14-44: the wind takes the ship off Crete and keeps it for fourteen nights. From here the chapter can give a direction and a fear, but not a position.

Places the chapter names for other reasons — where a ship was registered, where a companion came from, and the Italy this voyage never reaches.

Acts 27, verse by verse

  1. Acts 27:1And when it was decided that we should sail for , they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan Cohort named Julius.
  2. Acts 27:2And embarking in a ship of , which was about to sail to the ports along the coast of , we put to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from .
  3. Acts 27:3The next day we put in at . And Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him leave to go to his friends and be cared for.
  4. Acts 27:4And putting out to sea from there we sailed under the lee of , because the winds were against us.
  5. Acts 27:5And when we had sailed across the open sea along the coast of and , we came to in .
  6. Acts 27:6There the centurion found a ship of sailing for and put us on board.
  7. Acts 27:7We sailed slowly for a number of days and arrived with difficulty off , and as the wind did not allow us to go farther, we sailed under the lee of off .
  8. Acts 27:8Coasting along it with difficulty, we came to a place called , near which was the city of .
  9. Acts 27:12And because the harbor was not suitable to spend the winter in, the majority decided to put out to sea from there, on the chance that somehow they could reach , a harbor of , facing both southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.
  10. Acts 27:13Now when the south wind blew gently, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along , close to the shore.
  11. Acts 27:16Running under the lee of a small island called , we managed with difficulty to secure the ship's boat.
  12. Acts 27:17After hoisting it up, they used supports to undergird the ship. Then, fearing that they would run aground on the , they lowered the gear, and thus they were driven along.
  13. Acts 27:21Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from and incurred this injury and loss.
  14. Acts 27:27When the fourteenth night had come, as we were being driven across the , about midnight the sailors suspected that they were nearing land.