The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 Once it had been decided that we should set sail for Italy, they handed Sha'ul and some other prisoners over to an officer of the Emperor's Regiment named Julius.
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And when the decision had been made that we were to go by sea to Italy, they gave Paul and certain other prisoners into the care of a captain named Julius, of the Augustan band.
2 We embarked in a ship from Adramyttium which was about to sail to the ports along the coast of the province of Asia, and put out to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica.
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And we went to sea in a ship of Adramyttium which was sailing to the sea towns of Asia, Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us.
3 The next day, we landed at Tzidon; and Julius considerately allowed Sha'ul to go visit his friends and receive what he needed.
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And on the day after, we came to Sidon; and Julius was kind to Paul, and let him go to see his friends and take a rest.
4 Putting to sea from there, we sailed close to the sheltered side of Cyprus because the winds were against us,
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And sailing again from there, we went on under cover of Cyprus, because the wind was against us.
5 then across the open sea along the coasts of Cilicia and Pamphylia; and so we reached Myra in Lycia.
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And having gone across the sea off Cilicia and Pamphylia we came to Myra, in Lycia.
6 There the Roman officer found an Alexandrian vessel sailing to Italy and put us aboard.
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And there the captain came across a ship of Alexandria, sailing for Italy, and put us in it.
7 For a number of days we made little headway, and we arrived off Cnidus only with difficulty. The wind would not let us continue any farther along the direct route; so we ran down along the sheltered side of Crete from Cape Salmone;
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And when we had gone on slowly for a long time, and had had hard work getting across to Cnidus, for the wind was against us, we went under cover of Crete, in the direction of Salmone;
8 and, continuing to struggle on, hugging the coast, we reached a place called Pleasant Harbor, near the town of Lasea.
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And sailing down the side of it, as well as we were able, we came to a certain place named Fair Havens, near which was the town of Lasea.
9 Since much time had been lost, and continuing the voyage was risky, because it was already past Yom-Kippur, Sha'ul advised them,
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And as a long time had gone by, and the journey was now full of danger, because it was late in the year, Paul put the position before them,
10 "Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be a catastrophe, not only with huge losses to the cargo and the ship but with loss of our lives as well."
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Saying, Friends, I see that this journey will be one of great damage and loss, not only to the goods and the ship, but to ourselves.
11 However, the officer paid more attention to the pilot and the ship's owner than to what Sha'ul said.
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But the captain gave more attention to the master and the owner of the ship than to what Paul said.
12 Moreover, since the harbor was not well suited to sitting out the winter, the majority reached the decision to sail on from there in the hope of reaching Phoenix, another harbor in Crete, and wintering there, where it is protected from the southwest and northwest winds.
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And as the harbour was not a good one in which to be for the winter, the greater number of them were for going out to sea, in order, if possible, to put in for the winter at Phoenix, a harbour of Crete, looking to the north-east and south-east.
13 When a gentle southerly breeze began to blow, they thought that they had their goal within grasp; so they raised the anchor and started coasting by Crete close to shore.
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And when the south wind came softly, being of the opinion that their purpose might be effected, they let the ship go and went sailing down the side of Crete, very near to the land.
14 But before long there struck us from land a full gale from the northeast, the kind they call an Evrakilon.
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But after a little time, a very violent wind, named Euraquilo, came down from it with great force.
15 The ship was caught up and unable to face the wind, so we gave way to it and were driven along.
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And when the ship got into the grip of it, and was not able to make headway into the wind, we gave way, and went before it.
16 As we passed into the lee of a small island called Cauda, we managed with strenuous effort to get control of the lifeboat.
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And, sailing near the side of a small island named Cauda, we were able, though it was hard work, to make the ship's boat safe:
17 They hoisted it aboard, then fastened cables tightly around the ship itself to reinforce it. Fearing they might run aground on the Syrtis sandbars, they lowered the topsails and thus continued drifting.
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And having got it up, they put cords under and round the ship; but fearing that they might be pushed on to the Syrtis, they let down the sails and so went running before the wind.
18 But because we were fighting such heavy weather, the next day they began to jettison nonessentials;
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And, still fighting the storm with all our strength, the day after they made a start at getting the goods out of the ship;
19 and the third day, they threw the ship's sailing equipment overboard with their own hands.
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And on the third day, they let all the sailing apparatus go over the side.
20 For many days neither the sun nor the stars appeared, while the storm continued to rage, until gradually all hope of survival vanished.
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And as we had not seen the sun or stars for a long time, and a great storm was on us, all hope of salvation was gone.
21 It was then, when they had gone a long time without eating, that Sha'ul stood up in front of them and said, "You should have listened to me and not set out from Crete; if you had, you would have escaped this disastrous loss.
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And when they had been without food for a long time, Paul got up among them and said, Friends, it would have been better if you had given attention to me and not gone sailing out from Crete, to undergo this damage and loss.
22 But now, my advice to you is to take heart; because not one of you will lose his life - only the ship will be lost.
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But now, I say to you, be of good heart, for there will be no loss of life, but only of the ship.
23 For this very night, there stood next to me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve.
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For this night there came to my side an angel of the God who is my Master and whose servant I am,
24 He said, 'Don't be afraid, Sha'ul! you have to stand before the Emperor. Look! God has granted you all those who are sailing with you.'
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Saying, Have no fear, Paul, for you will come before Caesar, and God has given to you all those who are sailing with you.
25 So, men, take heart! For I trust God and believe that what I have been told will come true.
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And so, O men, be of good heart, for I have faith in God that it will be as he said to me.
26 Nevertheless, we have to run aground on some island."
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But we will be sent on to a certain island.
27 It was the fourteenth night, and we were still being driven about in the Adriatic Sea, when around midnight the sailors sensed that we were nearing land.
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But when the fourteenth day came, while we were going here and there in the Adriatic sea, about the middle of the night the sailors had an idea that they were getting near land;
28 So they dropped a plumbline and found the water one hundred and twenty feet deep. A little farther on, they took another sounding and found it ninety feet.
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And they let down the lead, and saw that the sea was a hundred and twenty feet deep; and after a little time they did it again and it was ninety feet.
29 Fearing we might run on the rocks, they let out four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight to come.
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Then, fearing that by chance we might come on to the rocks, they let down four hooks from the back of the ship, and made prayers for the coming of day.
30 At this point, the crew made an attempt to abandon ship - they lowered the lifeboat into the sea, pretending that they were about to let out some anchors from the bow.
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Then the sailors made attempts secretly to get away from the ship, letting down a boat as if they were about to put down hooks from the front of the ship;
31 Sha'ul said to the officer and the soldiers, "Unless these men remain aboard the ship, you yourselves cannot be saved."
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But Paul said to the captain and his men, If you do not keep these men in the ship, you will not be safe.
32 Then the soldiers cut the ropes holding the lifeboat and let it go.
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Then the armed men, cutting the cords of the boat, let her go.
33 Just before daybreak, Sha'ul urged them all to eat, saying, "Today is the fourteenth day you have been in suspense, going hungry, eating nothing.
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And when dawn was near, Paul gave them all orders to take food, saying, This is the fourteenth day you have been waiting and taking no food.
34 Therefore I advise you to take some food; you need it for your own survival. For not one of you will lose so much as a hair from his head."
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So I make request to you to take food; for this is for your salvation: not a hair from the head of any of you will come to destruction.
35 When he had said this, he took bread, said the b'rakhah to God in front of everyone, broke it and began to eat.
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And when he had said this and had taken bread, he gave praise to God before them all, and took a meal of the broken bread.
36 With courage restored, they all ate some food themselves.
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Then they all took heart and did the same.
37 Altogether there were 276 of us on board the ship.
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And we were, in the ship, two hundred and seventy-six persons.
38 After they had eaten all they wanted, they lightened the ship by dumping the grain into the sea.
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And when they had had enough food, they made the weight of the ship less, turning the grain out into the sea.
39 When day broke, they didn't recognize the land; but they noticed a bay with a sand beach, where they decided to run the ship aground if they could.
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And when it was day, they had no knowledge of the land, but they saw an inlet of the sea with a floor of sand, and they had the idea of driving the ship up on to it if possible.
40 So they cut away the anchors and left them in the sea; at the same time, they loosened the ropes that held the rudders out of the water. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and headed for the beach.
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So cutting away the hooks, and letting them go into the sea, and freeing the cords of the guiding-blades, and lifting up the sail to the wind, they went in the direction of the inlet.
41 But they encountered a place where two currents meet, and ran the vessel aground on the sandbar there. The bow stuck and would not move, while the pounding of the surf began to break up the stern.
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And coming to a point between two seas, they got the ship to land; and the front part was fixed in the sand and not able to be moved, but the back part was broken by the force of the waves.
42 At this point the soldiers' thought was to kill the prisoners, so that none of them would swim off and escape.
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Then the armed men were for putting the prisoners to death, so that no one would get away by swimming.
43 But the officer, wanting to save Sha'ul, kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to throw themselves overboard first and head for shore,
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But the captain, desiring to keep Paul safe, kept them from their purpose, and gave orders that those who had knowledge of swimming were to go off the ship and get first to land:
44 and the rest to use planks or whatever they could find from the ship. Thus it was that everyone reached land safely.
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And the rest, some on boards and some on things from the ship. And so it came about that they all got safe to land.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.