The Shipwreck

²⁷On the fourteenth night, as we were being driven back and forth in the Adriatic Sea, around midnight the sailors sensed that we were approaching land. ²⁸They took a depth measurement and found it was twenty fathoms. A short distance later they measured again and found it was fifteen fathoms. ²⁹Afraid that we might crash against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight to come. ³⁰The sailors tried to escape from the ship by lowering the lifeboat into the sea, pretending they were going to drop anchors from the bow. ³¹But Paul told the centurion and the soldiers, "Unless these men stay on the ship, you cannot be saved." ³²So the soldiers cut the ropes holding the lifeboat and let it fall away. ³³Just before dawn, Paul urged everyone to eat something. He said, "For fourteen days now you've been in constant suspense and have gone without food, eating nothing. ³⁴So I'm asking you to eat something. You need it to survive. Not a single hair from anyone's head will be lost." ³⁵After saying this, he took some bread, thanked God in front of everyone, broke it, and began to eat. ³⁶This encouraged all of them, and they ate some food as well. ³⁷There were 276 souls on the ship in total. ³⁸After everyone had eaten their fill, they lightened the ship by throwing the wheat overboard into the sea. ³⁹When daylight came, they didn't recognize the land, but they spotted a bay with a beach and decided to try to run the ship aground there if possible. ⁴⁰They cut the anchors loose and left them in the sea, untied the ropes holding the rudders, raised the foresail to the wind, and headed for the beach. ⁴¹But the ship struck a place where two seas met and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and wouldn't move, while the stern was being broken apart by the violence of the waves. ⁴²The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping. ⁴³But the centurion wanted to save Paul, so he stopped them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and make for land. ⁴⁴The rest grabbed planks or other pieces of the ship. In this way, everyone made it safely to land.