Acts 27:21-44 Lesson 282

Acts 27:21-44
Lesson 282

Read both the "King James Bible" and the "New Living Translation."

In this lesson:

From Clauda to Melita.

An angel reassures Paul (27:22-26)

Shipwrecked!

Paul is shipwrecked.
(Unknown artist)

Study Tip:

It helps to study more than one translation. As you read, scroll back and forth between the "King James Bible" and the "New Living Translation" below.

Also, check the margin notes in blue and click on the links.

The Acts of the Apostles

The King James Bible

Acts 27:21-44
Shipwrecked

21 But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto 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 any man's 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 Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.

26 Howbeit we must be cast upon a certain island.

27 But when the fourteenth night was come, as we were driven up and down in Adria, about midnight the shipmen deemed 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 have fallen 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 colour as though they would have 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 meat, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried and continued fasting, having taken nothing.

34 Wherefore I pray you to take some meat: 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 were they all of good cheer, and they also took some meat.

37 And we were in all in the ship two hundred threescore and sixteen souls.

38 And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, and cast out 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 the which they were minded, if it were possible, to thrust in the ship.

40 And when they had taken up the anchors, they committed themselves unto the sea, and loosed the rudder bands, and hoised up the mainsail to the wind, and made toward shore.

41 And falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the forepart stuck fast, and remained unmoveable, but the hinder part 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 which 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 escaped all safe to land.

Margin notes:

"Ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete." (27:21) - "You should have listened to me and not left Crete (27:9-11)."

"I exhort you." (27:22) - "I urge you."

"There stood by me this night the angel of God." (27:23) - This is the last of Paul's six visions. See Acts 9:3-6; 16:9-10; 18:9-10; 22:17-18 and 23:11 to review the other five.

"Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar." (27:24) - Remember, back in verse 23:11 (lesson 273), Jesus promised Paul he would preach in Rome.

"God hath given thee all them that sail with thee." (27:24) - This means, God will spare the lives of everyone on board as a gift to Paul.

"Howbeit we must be cast upon a certain island." (27:26) - "However, we will shipwreck on an island." They later learn the island was called Melita (28:1). Today it is named Malta.

"Adria." (27:27) - The Adriatic Sea. In Paul's day, the Adriatic included the sea between Italy and Greece, including Malta (Melita) and Crete in the central Mediterranean.

"The shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country." (27:27) - "The sailors believed they were close to land."

"Sounded, and found it twenty fathoms." (27:28) - The crew dropped a weighted, marked rope overboard to measure the depth of the water. They found that the water was twenty fathoms (120 feet) deep.

"They sounded again, and found it fifteen fathoms." (27:28) - Fifteen fathoms are ninety feet. Since the first sounding was deeper, they knew they were getting closer to land.

"Wished for the day." (27:29) - "Prayed for daylight."

"The shipmen were about to flee out of the ship, when they had let down the boat." (27:30) - The panicked crew lowered the lifeboat and prepared to abandon ship. They were going to let the passengers fend for themselves.

"Under colour." (27:30) - "Under the guise." The crew intended to abandon ship but wanted the passengers to think they lowered the lifeboat to throw out more anchors.

"Except these abide in the ship." (27:31) - "Unless the crew stay in the ship."

"Paul besought them all to take meat." (27:33) - "Paul begged them all to eat some food."

"We were in all in the ship two hundred threescore and sixteen souls." (27:37) - The ship was carrying 276 people.

"They knew not the land: but they discovered a certain creek." (27:39) - The crew didn't know where they were, but they found a bay.

"And falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground." (27:41) - "Coming upon a reef, the ship ran aground."

"The forepart stuck fast." (27:41) - "The bow stuck fast."

"The soldiers' counsel." (27:42) - "The soldiers advice."

"Kill the prisoners." (27:42) - The soldiers preferred to kill the prisoners rather than risk them escaping in the confusion of a shipwreck. According to Roman law, any guard that lost a prisoner took the prisoner's punishment.

"The centurion, willing to save Paul." (27:43) - Julius spared Paul's life.

New Living Translation

Acts 27:21-44

21 No one had eaten for a long time. Finally, Paul called the crew together and said, "Men, you should have listened to me in the first place and not left Crete. You would have avoided all this damage and loss.

22 But take courage! None of you will lose your lives, even though the ship will go down.

23 For last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me,

24 and he said, 'Don't be afraid, Paul, for you will surely stand trial before Caesar! What's more, God in his goodness has granted safety to everyone sailing with you.'

25 So take courage! For I believe God. It will be just as he said.

26 But we will be shipwrecked on an island."

The Shipwreck

27 About midnight on the fourteenth night of the storm, as we were being driven across the Sea of Adria, the sailors sensed land was near.

28 They dropped a weighted line and found that the water was 120 feet deep. But a little later they measured again and found it was only 90 feet deep.

29 At this rate they were afraid we would soon be driven against the rocks along the shore, so they threw out four anchors from the back of the ship and prayed for daylight.

30 Then the sailors tried to abandon the ship; they lowered the lifeboat as though they were going to put out anchors from the front of the ship.

31 But Paul said to the commanding officer and the soldiers, "You will all die unless the sailors stay aboard."

32 So the soldiers cut the ropes to the lifeboat and let it drift away.

33 Just as day was dawning, Paul urged everyone to eat. "You have been so worried that you haven't touched food for two weeks," he said.

34 "Please eat something now for your own good. For not a hair of your heads will perish."

35 Then he took some bread, gave thanks to God before them all, and broke off a piece and ate it.

36 Then everyone was encouraged and began to eat-

37 all 276 of us who were on board.

38 After eating, the crew lightened the ship further by throwing the cargo of wheat overboard.

39 When morning dawned, they didn't recognize the coastline, but they saw a bay with a beach and wondered if they could get to shore by running the ship aground.

40 So they cut off the anchors and left them in the sea. Then they lowered the rudders, raised the foresail, and headed toward shore.

41 But they hit a shoal and ran the ship aground too soon. The bow of the ship stuck fast, while the stern was repeatedly smashed by the force of the waves and began to break apart.

42 The soldiers wanted to kill the prisoners to make sure they didn't swim ashore and escape.

43 But the commanding officer wanted to spare Paul, so he didn't let them carry out their plan. Then he ordered all who could swim to jump overboard first and make for land.

44 The others held onto planks or debris from the broken ship. So everyone escaped safely to shore.

This second Bible text from the "New Living Translation" (Tyndale House, Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois) is a paraphrase and not an accurate word for word translation of the Bible. However, it is a helpful tool when read with the "King James Version."

Today's Question:

1. Why did the soldiers listen to Paul, a prisoner? (27:31-32)

You can receive these lessons one to five times per week. Let me know your preference.

Answer: (Do you agree?)

1. There were several reasons why the soldiers took Paul's advice:

A) His earlier warning that it was too late in the season to safely embark on this voyage (27:9-10) proved correct and gave him credibility.

B) The fact that he was a Roman citizen and an educated man.

C) Because as a Christian role model, Paul projected an aura of loving concern and trustworthiness.

D) Finally, an "angel of God" had appeared to Paul and told him everyone would survive (27:23-25). Paul believed God, and his Christian faith and confidence permeated to all on board the ship.

Application thought for the day:

Those who have faith in God's mercy and power can weather any storm.

Thanks to the writings and commentary of John Wesley and Adam Clarke. Also, "The Layman's Bible Study Notebook" by Irving Jensen published by Harvest House Publishing, Irvine, California; the "Life Change Series" published by NavPress books, Colorado Springs, Colorado; the "Life Application Study Bible" published by Tyndale House Publishing, Carol Stream, Illinois; the "Quest Study Bible" published by The Zondervan Corporation, Grand Rapids, Michigan; "Robertson's New Testament Word Studies;" "The MacArthur Bible Commentary" by John MacArthur published by Thomas Nelson, Nashville, Tennessee; "Wisdom of the Bible" CD by Topics Entertainment, Inc., Renton, Washington for their inspiring pictures; "My utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers published by Barbour Publishing, Inc., Uhrichsville, Ohio; The "Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge" by Reuben Archer Torrey; "Hope For Each Day" by Billy Graham published by J. Countryman, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc., Nashville, Tennessee; "Easton's Bible Dictionary" by Matthew George Easton; "Unger's Bible Dictionary" by Merrill F. Unger, published by Moody Press, Chicago, Illinois; "Halley's Bible Handbook" by Henry H. Halley, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan; "The Everyday Bible" published by World Wide Publications, Minneapolis, Minnesota; "The Living New Testament" published by Tyndale house; "The New Living Translation" published by Tyndale House; "The New Testament" translated from the Latin Vulgate, published by Guild Press, New York, New York; BibleGateway.com for all their wonderful links; and of course the "King James Bible." All were critical in putting these lessons together.
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