1Then Festus commanded him to be sent to Caesar in Italy, and he delivered Pavlos together with other prisoners to a centurion of the company of Sebastian, named Julius. 2When we were ready to sail, we embarked in a ship of the city of Adramyttium, bound for Asia Minor, and Aristarchus, a Macedonian of the city of Tesaloniki, boarded the ship with us there. 3And the next day, we arrived at Tzidon. And the centurion treated Pavlos with kindness, permitting him to visit his friends, and to rest. 4Then we sailed from there, and because the winds were contrary, we had to sail towards Cyprus. 5And when we had sailed over the sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we arrived at Myra, a city of Lycia. 6And there the centurion found a ship from Alexandria bound for Italy; and he put us on board. 7And because for a number of days she sailed slowly, we arrived with difficulty towards the Island of Cnidus; and since the wind would not allow us to sail in a straight course, we had to sail around Crete towards the city of Salmone. 8And after we had passed around it with difficulty, we arrived at a place which is called The Fair Havens; and nearby was the city of Lasea. 9There we remained for a long time, even until the day of the fast of the Yehudim was over, and, since it had now become dangerous for anyone to sail, Pavlos gave them advice, 10saying, “Men, I see that this voyage will be beset with hardship and with great loss, not only of the cargo of our ship but also of our lives.” 11Nevertheless, the centurion listened to the master and owner of the ship more than to the words of Pavlos.
12And as the harbor was not accommodating for wintering there, many of us were desirous to sail from there, and if possible to reach and winter in a harbor at Crete which is called Phenice, which lies towards the south. 13And when the south wind blew softly, they thought they could reach their destination as they had desired, and we sailed around Crete. 14A short while after, there arose against us a tempest wind called Typhonic Euroclydon. 15And when the ship was caught and could not bear against the wind, we let her drive. 16And as we passed under the lee of an island which is called Clauda, we could hardly man the ship’s boat. 17And when we had launched it, we began undergirding and repairing the ship; and because we were afraid of grounding, we lowered the sail, and so we drifted. 18And as the violent storm raged against us, the next day we threw our belongings into the sea. 19And on the third day we cast overboard with our own hands the tackling of the ship. 20And as the winter was so severe that for many days neither sun nor stars could be seen, all hope of surviving was given up.
21Then, as no man among them had eaten anything, Pavlos stood up in the midst of them, and said, “Men, if you had listened to me, we would not have sailed from Crete, and we would have been spared this loss and suffering. 22Now let me counsel you not to be anxious; for not a single life among you will be lost, but only the ship. 23For there has appeared to me this night a Malakh of Elohim, to whom I belong and whom I serve, 24and he said to me, ‘Fear not, Pavlos; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, Elohim has granted you all of those who sail with you.’ 25Therefore, men, be of good cheer; for I have confidence in Elohim, that it shall be just as it was told me; 26however, we will be cast upon an island.” 27And after fourteen days of being lost and weary in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors thought they were drawing near to land. 28So they cast the lead, and found twenty fathoms; and again, they sailed a little farther and found fifteen fathoms. 29Then, fearing lest we find ourselves caught between the rocks, they cast four anchors from the stern of the ship, and prayed for the dawning of day. 30The sailors sought to desert the ship; so they lowered the ship’s boat into the sea, under pretense that they were going in it to make fast the ship to the land. 31And when Pavlos found it out, he said to the centurion and to the soldiers, “Unless these men remain on board the ship, you will not be able to live.” 32Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the ship’s boat from the ship and let her drift. 33But Pavlos, until the early morning, kept begging them all to eat, saying to them, “Today is the fourteenth day since you have tasted anything because of fear. 34Therefore, I pray to take some food for the sustenance of your life; for not a hair shall be lost from the head of any of you.” 35And when he had thus spoken, he took bread and gave thanks to Elohim in the presence of them all; and when he had broken it, they began to eat. 36Then they were all cheerful, and received nourishment. 37We were in all two hundred and seventy-six persons on board. 38And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship by taking the wheat and throwing it into the sea. 39When it was day, the sailors did not know what land it was; but they saw an inlet close to the shore, and thought if it were possible they would land the ship there. 40So they cut off the anchors from the ship and threw them into the sea, and loosed the rudder ropes; then they hoisted the topsail to the wind and sailed toward shore. 41But the ship struck on a shoal between two deep places in the sea and went aground; and the forward part rested upon the bottom and could not be moved, but the stern broke by the violence of the waves. 42And the soldiers sought to kill the prisoners, lest some of them should swim away and so escape. 43But the centurion stopped them from doing this, because he was willing to deliver Pavlos; so he commanded those who could swim to cast themselves first into the sea and get to land. 44The others he made cross over on boards and on broken pieces of the ship. In this manner, all of them escaped and reached shore safely.
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D'var יהוה , The Word of יהוה 