Chapter 27

1Then it was settled. We were going to Italy. They handed Paul and some other prisoners over to Julius, a centurion from the Imperial Regiment. An elite unit. Paul only gets the elite units.

2We got on a ship out of Adramyttium that was working its way along the coast of Asia. Aristarchus came too, the Macedonian from Thessalonica. Loyal guy. Came along for the whole ride.

3The next day we landed at Sidon, and Julius, being very kind to Paul, let him go to his friends so they could provide for his needs. Julius liked Paul. Everybody who spends time with Paul ends up liking him.

4Then back out to sea. The wind was against us the whole time. Headwinds. Everything against us. Story of my life. So we hid behind Cyprus.

5Crossed the open water off Cilicia and Pamphylia and landed at Myra in Lycia. Never heard of it. Nice enough.

6There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and put us on board. Bigger ship. Upgrade.

7Slow going. Day after day. We barely made it to Cnidus. The wind wouldn't let up, so we ducked behind Crete, down by Salmone.

8Crawled along the coast and finally got into a place called Fair Havens, near Lasea. Fair Havens. They called it fair. I'd call it mediocre. Terrible marina.

9Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Day of Atonement. Storm season. Everybody knew it. So Paul warned them,

10“Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives too.” He called it. He calls everything.

11But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship. The experts. He listened to the experts. Big mistake. Always a mistake.

12The harbor was no good for the winter. Everybody voted to push on and try for Phoenix, a better harbor on Crete. Majority vote. The majority was wrong. The majority is wrong a lot.

13When a gentle south wind began to blow, they thought they had what they wanted. So they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. Gentle wind. Very nice. It never lasts.

14Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the Northeaster, swept down from the island. Hurricane. Big one. Category five. Maybe six.

15The ship got grabbed by the storm. Couldn't turn into it. Couldn't fight it. So we let it take us.

16We got behind a little island called Cauda and just barely managed to get hold of the lifeboat.

17The men hoisted it aboard. Then they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. Because they were afraid they'd run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and let the ship be driven along. Holding the ship together with rope. That's what the experts got us.

18We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard.

19By the third day they were throwing the ship's own gear overboard with their bare hands. Everything. Throwing everything overboard. Very sad to watch. Expensive gear.

20When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved. Everybody gave up. Except one guy.

21After they'd gone a long time without food, Paul stood up in front of them and said, “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete. Then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. I told you. I told you so. I'm not going to say I told you so. But I told you so.

22But now I urge you to keep your courage, because not one of you will be lost. Only the ship will be destroyed.

23Last night an angel of the God I belong to and serve stood beside me

24and said, 'Don't be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar, and God has graciously given you the lives of everybody sailing with you.' Everybody. Every life. Because of me. You're welcome.

25So keep up your courage, men, because I have faith in God that it'll happen just as he told me.

26Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.” The plan. Run it aground. Sometimes you run it aground. Then you come back. I know about that.

27Fourteen nights. Fourteen nights getting tossed around the Adriatic. Around midnight, the sailors start saying they think there's land coming. They could smell it.

28They dropped a line. A hundred and twenty feet. Dropped it again. Ninety. Land. It was coming fast.

29They were terrified of the rocks, so they threw out four anchors off the back and prayed for morning. Four anchors. Praying. That's where the experts got us.

30In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let the lifeboat down into the sea, pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow. The crew tried to abandon ship. Sneaky. Very disloyal. Cowards.

31Then Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay with the ship, you can't be saved.” Caught them. Paul catches everything.

32So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it drift away. No more lifeboat. No escape hatch. Everybody's in it together now.

33Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. “For the last fourteen days,” he said, “you've been in constant suspense and have gone without food. You haven't eaten anything.

34Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.” Not a single hair. Hair is very important. Trust me.

35After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat. Lead by example. He ate first. A leader eats first. Then everybody eats.

36They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves.

37Altogether there were two hundred seventy-six of us on board. Big crowd. Two hundred seventy-six. All saved. Count them.

38When they'd eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea. Bad for the farmers. But you have to do it.

39When daylight came, they didn't recognize the land, but they saw a bay with a sandy beach, where they decided to run the ship aground if they could. Nice beach. Very nice beach. Great development opportunity.

40They cut the anchors loose, let them sink, untied the rudders, put up the front sail, and went straight for the beach. Full speed. No more planning. Just go.

41But the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and wouldn't move, and the stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf. The ship was finished. Totally finished. Experts' ship.

42The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping.

43But the centurion wanted to spare Paul's life and kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. Saved because of Paul. Everybody saved because of Paul.

44The rest were to get there on planks or on other pieces of the ship. And so everybody reached land safely. Everybody. Two hundred seventy-six. Not one lost. Best rescue in maritime history.