Acts 27–28: Three ships, one wreck, and a road at the end of it
Read it →Paul appealed to Caesar, and this is the journey that appeal cost him: Caesarea to Rome under guard, from the last safe weeks of one sailing season into the first of the next. Three ships carry him. A coaster from Adramyttium takes the party as far as Myra, working the sheltered side of Cyprus because the wind is against her the whole way. At Myra the centurion finds an Alexandrian grain ship bound for Italy, and she gets no further west than Cnidus before the weather turns her down under Crete. At Fair Havens the season has run out and the argument is about a harbour: Paul says winter here, the pilot and the owner say run forty miles west to Phoenix, and the majority carries it. They never reach Phoenix. A north-easter comes down off the Cretan hills and holds the ship for fourteen nights — past Cauda, in fear of the Syrtis, across a sea Luke calls Adria — and puts them on a beach nobody aboard recognises. It is Malta, and it takes the next chapter to say so. Three months later a third ship, another Alexandrian that had wintered in the same harbour, works north in short hops: Syracuse, Rhegium, Puteoli. At Puteoli the voyage stops being a voyage, because Rome is a road from there. Luke names two places on that road, the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns, and names them only because that is how far a church which had never met Paul walked out to meet him. The journey ends without a verdict — two years in his own lodging, teaching without hindrance, and not a word about the trial he came for.
Regions on this map
Acts 27:1–5: 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.
Acts 27:6–8: a grain ship out of Alexandria makes Cnidus with difficulty, gives up the direct course to Italy, and runs down under Crete instead.
Acts 27:9–13: 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.
Acts 27:14–44: the wind takes the ship off Crete and keeps it for fourteen nights. From here the text can give a direction and a fear, but not a position.
Acts 28:1–10: the beach gets a name, and with it the storm's track gets an end. The ship is gone and the sea is shut for the winter, so the island keeps them until it opens.
Acts 28:11–13: a third ship, another Alexandrian, goes up the coast in short hops — three days at Syracuse, a day waiting at Rhegium, and then a south wind that does the rest in two.
Acts 28:14–16: the sea has finished with the story and the last stretch is walked. The two places named on that road are the two where Rome's Christians had come out to meet him.
Places the voyage names for reasons other than putting in at them — two ships' home ports, a fellow passenger's home city, the coast the first ship was working back towards, and the city the case began in. Italy belongs here too: it is named twice, both times as somewhere they are still trying to get to.
Acts 27–28, verse by verse
Acts 27
- 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.
- 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 .
- 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.
- Acts 27:4And putting out to sea from there we sailed under the lee of , because the winds were against us.
- Acts 27:5And when we had sailed across the open sea along the coast of and , we came to in .
- Acts 27:6There the centurion found a ship of sailing for and put us on board.
- 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 .
- Acts 27:8Coasting along it with difficulty, we came to a place called , near which was the city of .
- Acts 27:9Since much time had passed, and the voyage was now dangerous because even the Fast was already over, Paul advised them,
- Acts 27:10saying, “Sirs, 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.”
- Acts 27:11But the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said.
- 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.
- 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.
- Acts 27:14But soon a tempestuous wind, called the northeaster, struck down from the land.
- Acts 27:15And when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along.
- Acts 27:16Running under the lee of a small island called , we managed with difficulty to secure the ship's boat.
- 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.
- Acts 27:18Since we were violently storm-tossed, they began the next day to jettison the cargo.
- Acts 27:19And on the third day they threw the ship's tackle overboard with their own hands.
- Acts 27:20When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.
- 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.
- Acts 27:22Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.
- Acts 27:23For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship,
- Acts 27:24and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’
- Acts 27:25So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told.
- Acts 27:26But we must run aground on some island.”
- 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.
- Acts 27:28So they took a sounding and found twenty fathoms. A little farther on they took a sounding again and found fifteen fathoms.
- Acts 27:29And fearing that we might run on the rocks, they let down four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come.
- Acts 27:30And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, and had lowered the ship's boat into the sea under pretense of laying out anchors from the bow,
- Acts 27:31Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.”
- Acts 27:32Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship's boat and let it go.
- Acts 27:33As day was about to dawn, Paul urged them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have continued in suspense and without food, having taken nothing.
- Acts 27:34Therefore I urge you to take some food. For it will give you strength, for not a hair is to perish from the head of any of you.”
- Acts 27:35And when he had said these things, he took bread, and giving thanks to God in the presence of all he broke it and began to eat.
- Acts 27:36Then they all were encouraged and ate some food themselves.
- Acts 27:37(We were in all 276 persons in the ship.)
- Acts 27:38And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea.
- Acts 27:39Now when it was day, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, on which they planned if possible to run the ship ashore.
- Acts 27:40So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes that tied the rudders. Then hoisting the foresail to the wind they made for the beach.
- Acts 27:41But striking a reef, they ran the vessel aground. The bow stuck and remained immovable, and the stern was being broken up by the surf.
- Acts 27:42The soldiers' plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any should swim away and escape.
- Acts 27:43But the centurion, wishing 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,
- Acts 27:44and the rest on planks or on pieces of the ship. And so it was that all were brought safely to land.
Acts 28
- Acts 28:1After we were brought safely through, we then learned that the island was called .
- Acts 28:2The native people showed us unusual kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain and was cold.
- Acts 28:3When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand.
- Acts 28:4When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.”
- Acts 28:5He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm.
- Acts 28:6They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.
- Acts 28:7Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days.
- Acts 28:8It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery. And Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him, healed him.
- Acts 28:9And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured.
- Acts 28:10They also honored us greatly, and when we were about to sail, they put on board whatever we needed.
- Acts 28:11After three months we set sail in a ship that had wintered in the island, a ship of , with the twin gods as a figurehead.
- Acts 28:12Putting in at , we stayed there for three days.
- Acts 28:13And from there we made a circuit and arrived at . And after one day a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to .
- Acts 28:14There we found brothers and were invited to stay with them for seven days. And so we came to .
- Acts 28:15And the brothers there, when they heard about us, came as far as the and to meet us. On seeing them, Paul thanked God and took courage.
- Acts 28:16And when we came into , Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who guarded him.
- Acts 28:17After three days he called together the local leaders of the Jews, and when they had gathered, he said to them, “Brothers, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from into the hands of the Romans.
- Acts 28:18When they had examined me, they wished to set me at liberty, because there was no reason for the death penalty in my case.
- Acts 28:19But because the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar — though I had no charge to bring against my nation.
- Acts 28:20For this reason, therefore, I have asked to see you and speak with you, since it is because of the hope of Israel that I am wearing this chain.”
- Acts 28:21And they said to him, “We have received no letters from about you, and none of the brothers coming here has reported or spoken any evil about you.
- Acts 28:22But we desire to hear from you what your views are, for with regard to this sect we know that everywhere it is spoken against.”
- Acts 28:23When they had appointed a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in greater numbers. From morning till evening he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets.
- Acts 28:24And some were convinced by what he said, but others disbelieved.
- Acts 28:25And disagreeing among themselves, they departed after Paul had made one statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet:
- Acts 28:26“‘Go to this people, and say, “You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.”
- Acts 28:27For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’
- Acts 28:28Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”
- Acts 28:30He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him,
- Acts 28:31proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.