which is called Clauda, we had much work to secure the boat:
17 Which when they had taken it up, they used cables, undergirding the ship; and, fearing lest they should fall into the quicksands, struck sail, and so were driven.
18 And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship;
19 And the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship.
20 And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.
21 But after being long without food Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened to me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss.
22 And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of life among you, but of the ship.
23 For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve,
24 Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.
25 Therefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told to me.
26 But we must be cast upon a certain isle.
27 But when the fourteenth night was come, as we were driven up and down in Adria, about midnight the shipmen thought that they drew near to some country;
28 And sounded, and found it twenty fathoms: and when they had gone a little further, they sounded again, and found it fifteen fathoms.
29 Then fearing lest we should fall upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern, and wished for the day.
30 And as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship, when they had let down the boat into the sea, under pretence as though they would cast anchors out of the foreship,
31 Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved.
32 Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat, and let her fall off.
33 And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take food, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried and continued fasting, having taken nothing.
34 Therefore I beseech you to take some food: for this is for your health: for there shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you.
35 And when he had thus spoken, he took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all: and when he had broken it, he began to eat.
36 Then they were all of good cheer, and they also took food.
37 And we were in all in the ship two hundred and seventy and six souls.
38 And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, and cast the wheat into the sea.
39 And when it was day, they knew not the land: but they discovered a certain creek with a shore, into which they purposed, if it were possible, to thrust in the ship.
40 And when they had taken up the anchors, they committed themselves to the sea, and loosed the rudder bands, and hoisted the mainsail to the wind, and made toward the shore. [1]
41 And falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the bow stuck fast, and remained unmoveable, but the stern was broken with the violence of the waves.
42 And the soldiers’ counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out, and escape.
43 But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose; and commanded that they who could swim should cast themselves first into the sea, and get to land:
44 And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they all escaped safe to land.
CHAP. 28.
And when they had escaped, then they knew that the isle was called Melita.
2 And the barbarous people showed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold.
3 And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand.
4 And when the barbarians saw the venomous creature hanging from his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet Vengeance alloweth not to live.
5 And he shook off the creature into the fire, and felt no harm.
6 Yet they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god.
7 In the same quarters were possessions of the chief man of the isle, whose name was Publius; who received us, and lodged us three days courteously.
8 And it came to pass, that the father of Publius lay sick with a fever and a bloody flux: to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands on him, and healed him.
- ↑ taken...: or, cut the anchors, they left them in the sea
