ACTS 27 25-44

       BooK of Acts of the First Believers

                      (Paraphrased)

(On the rough seas!) 25 - “So men! Keep up your courage! For I (Paul) have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me! Not one of us will be lost! 26 Nevertheless, we will run aground on some island.” (Paul was under guard and arrest, called “in chains” on his way to Rome. Luke, a Greek doctor who had joined up with Paul and friends during Paul’s second gospel journey, then traveled with them off and on, and who wrote this “book of acts”, was on this journey.)

     27 On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriatic Sea, when about midnight the sailors sensed we were approaching land. 28 So they took soundings and found the water was a hundred and twenty feet deep. A short time later they took soundings again and found it was ninety feet deep. 29 Fearing we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern, and prayed for daylight. 30 In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let the lifeboat down into the sea, pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow. 31 But Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay with the ship, we cannot be saved.” 32 So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it drift away.

     33 Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. “For the last fourteen days,” he said, “you’ve been in constant stress and haven’t eaten anything. 34 So I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. And not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.” 35 After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat. 36 They were all encouraged and ate some food theirselves. 37 Altogether there were 276 of us on board. 38 When they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea.

     39 When daylight came, they didn’t recognize the land, but they saw a bay with a sandy beach, so they decided to run the ship aground there if they could. 40 Cutting loose the anchors, they left them in the sea and at the same time untied the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and made for the beach. 41 But the ship struck a sandbar, the bow was stuck fast and wouldn’t move, and the stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf.

     42 The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping. 43 But the centurion wanted to spare Paul’s life and kept them from carrying it out. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard and swim to land. 44 The rest would get there on planks or on other pieces of the ship. And in this way everyone reached the shore safely. {A living parable.}

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An ‘Enter the Story’ Reading & Study