The Storm

¹³Then a good wind began to blow from the south. The men on the ship thought, "This is the wind we wanted, and now we have it!" So they pulled up the anchor. We sailed very close to the island of Crete. ¹⁴But then a very strong wind named the "Northeaster" came from across the island. ¹⁵This wind took the ship and carried it away. The ship could not sail against the wind. So we stopped trying and let the wind blow us. ¹⁶We went below a small island named Cauda. Then* we were able to bring in the lifeboat, but it was very hard to do. ¹⁷After the men took the lifeboat in, they tied ropes around the ship to hold the ship together. The men were afraid that the ship would hit the sandbanks of Syrtis.* So they lowered the sail and let the wind carry the ship. ¹⁸The next day the storm was blowing us so hard that the men threw some things out of the ship.* ¹⁹A day later they threw out the ship's equipment. ²⁰For many days we could not see the sun or the stars. The storm was very bad. We lost all hope of staying alive--we thought we would die. ²¹The men did not eat for a long time. Then one day Paul stood up before them and said, "Men, I told you not to leave Crete. You should have listened to me. Then you would not have all this trouble and loss. ²²But now I tell you to be happy. None of you will die! But the ship will be lost. ²³Last night an angel came to me from God. This is the God I worship. I am his. ²⁴God's angel said, 'Paul, don't be afraid! You must stand before Caesar.* And God has given you this [promise]: He will save the lives of all those men sailing with you.' ²⁵So men, be happy! I trust in God. Everything will happen like his angel told me. ²⁶But we will crash on an island." ²⁷On the 14th night we were floating around in the Adriatic Sea.* The sailors thought we were close to land. ²⁸They threw a rope into the water with a weight on the end of it. They found that the water was 120 feet deep. They went a little farther and threw the rope in again. It was 90 feet deep. ²⁹The sailors were afraid that we would hit the rocks. So they threw four anchors into the water. Then they prayed for daylight to come. ³⁰Some of the sailors wanted to leave the ship. They lowered the lifeboat to the water. The sailors wanted the other men to think that they were throwing more anchors from the front of the ship. ³¹But Paul told the army officer* and the other soldiers, "If these men do not stay in the ship, then your lives cannot be saved!" ³²So the soldiers cut the ropes and let the lifeboat fall into the water. ³³Just before dawn Paul began persuading all the people to eat something. He said, "For the past two weeks you have been waiting and watching. You have not eaten for 14 days. ³⁴Now I beg (ask) you to eat something. You need it to stay alive. None of you will lose even one hair off your heads." ³⁵After he said this, Paul took some bread and thanked God for it before all of them. He broke off a piece and began eating. ³⁶All the men felt better. They all started eating too. ³⁷(There were 276 people on the ship.) ³⁸We ate all we wanted. Then we began making the ship lighter by throwing the grain into the sea.

The Ship Is Destroyed

³⁹When daylight came the sailors saw land. But they did not know what land it was. They saw a bay with a beach. The sailors wanted to sail the ship to the beach if they could. ⁴⁰So they cut the ropes to the anchors and left the anchors in the sea. At the same time, they untied the ropes that were holding the rudders. Then they raised the front sail into the wind and sailed toward the beach. ⁴¹But the ship hit a sandbank. The front of the ship stuck there. The ship could not move. Then the big waves began to break the back of the ship to pieces. ⁴²The soldiers decided to kill the prisoners so that none of the prisoners could swim away and escape. ⁴³But the army officer* (Julius) wanted to let Paul live. So he did not allow the soldiers to kill the prisoners. Julius told the people that could swim to jump into the water and swim to land. ⁴⁴The other people used wooden boards or pieces of the ship. And this is how all the people went to land. None of the people died.

Then While the island protected them from the wind. Syrtis Shallow area in the sea near the Libyan coast. threw some things … ship The men did this to make the ship lighter so that it would not sink easily. Caesar The name given to the emperor (ruler) of Rome. Adriatic Sea The sea between Greece and Italy, including the central part of the Mediterranean Sea. army officer A centurion, a Roman army officer who had authority over 100 soldiers.