Acts 27:14-38

¹⁴But it was not long before a cyclone called the Northeaster swept down across the island.

¹⁵Unable to head into the wind, the ship was caught up. So we gave way and let ourselves be driven along.

¹⁶Passing to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we barely managed to secure the lifeboat.

¹⁷After hoisting it up, the crew used ropes to undergird the ship. And fearing that they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and were driven along.

¹⁸We were tossed so violently that the next day the men began to jettison the cargo.

¹⁹On the third day, they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands.

²⁰When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the great storm continued to batter us, we abandoned all hope of being saved.

²¹After the men had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have followed my advice not to sail from Crete. Then you would have averted this disaster and loss.

²²But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because you will not experience any loss of life, but only of the ship.

²³For just last night an angel of God, whose I am and whom I serve, stood beside me

²⁴and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And look, God has granted you the lives of all who sail with you.’

²⁵So take courage, men, for I believe God that it will happen just as He told me.

²⁶However, we must run aground on some island.”

²⁷On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriatic Sea. About midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land.

²⁸They took soundings and found that the water was twenty fathoms deep. Going a little farther, they took another set of soundings that read fifteen fathoms.

²⁹Fearing that we would run aground on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daybreak.

³⁰Meanwhile, the sailors attempted to escape from the ship. Pretending to lower anchors from the bow, they let the lifeboat down into the sea.

³¹But Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men remain with the ship, you cannot be saved.”

³²So the soldiers cut the ropes to the lifeboat and set it adrift.

³³Right up to daybreak, Paul kept urging them all to eat: “Today is your fourteenth day in constant suspense, without taking any food.

³⁴So for your own preservation, I urge you to eat something, because not a single hair of your head will be lost.”

³⁵After he had said this, Paul took bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat.

³⁶They were all encouraged and took some food themselves.

³⁷In all, there were 276 of us on board.

³⁸After the men had eaten their fill, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea.

Related Resources from Heartlight

Cross References for Acts 27:14-38

The Berean Standard Bible