a paraphrased study
1 - When it was decided that we (Luke and others with Paul) would sail for Italy (from Israel) Paul and some other prisoners were put into the hands of a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the Roman Imperial Regiment. 2 [Acts is written by Luke, a Greek doctor who met Paul during one of Paul’s journeys.] We boarded a ship from Adramyttium which was about to sail for ports along the coast of the province of Asia. And so we put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian brother from Thessalonica (‘next door’ to Philippi) went with us.
3 The next day we landed at Sidon, and Julius, in a kindness to Paul, allowed him to visit his friends and to recieve helps from them.
4 From there we put out to sea again, but the winds were against us, so we went to the lee of Cyprus. 5 And later when we had sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia. 6 There the centurion put us on board an Alexandrian ship he had found that was sailing for Italy.
7 We made slow headway for many days and we had difficulty arriving off Cnidus. When the wind didn’t allow us to hold our course, we sailed to the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone. 8 With difficulty we moved along the coast and came to a bay called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea.
9 We had lost a lot of time, and sailing had already become dangerous because by then it was late in the season, being after Day of Atonement. So Paul warned, 10 “Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to the ship and cargo, and to our own lives as well.” 11 But the centurion, paid no mind to what Paul said, and followed the advice of the pilot and the owner of the ship. 12 Since the harbor wasn’t suitable to winter in, the majority decided we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there in a harbor further along, which faced westward. 13 When a gentle south wind began to blow, they took it as their opportunity, and weighing anchor, were sailing along the shores of Crete. 14 But soon a wind of hurricane force, called a Northeaster, swept down, 15 and the ship was caught by it and couldn’t prevail against the wind, so we gave way to it and were driven along. 16 As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were in danger of losing the lifeboat, 17 so the men hoisted it on board. Then they passed ropes under the ship itself to help hold it together, for they were afraid we would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis. Then they lowered the anchor and let the ship be driven along.
18 We took such a violent battering from the storm that on the next day they began to throw the cargo into the sea. 19 And on the third day, they threw the ship’s tackle overboard. 20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm raged on, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.
21 After we had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete, then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. 22 But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost. Only the ship will be lost. 23 Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong, and whom I serve, appeared 24 and said, ‘Fear not, Paul. You will stand trial before Caesar. And God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’”
[The original Caesar, Julius, became emperor by bypassing the laws, instead he groomed the populace and then took things straight to them. The Roman system of senators, etc. wasn’t perfect, but laws keep political powers in check.]
🗝️ [ ] - word/language insights, facts, cross references, etc.
( ) - thots
No comments:
Post a Comment