Acts 27

Paul had appealed to Caesar, so he is sent there. However, he doesn't get there directly and we get to see this long journey that takes place. Paul is still a prisoner, so he is under the care of a centurion named Julius. Paul isn't the only prisoner on board, for there are a number of prisoners.

We see that kindness is shown to Paul by Julius, as he allows Paul to go to his friends when the ship they are in arrives at Sidon. As they continue to sail, they have slow progress as they meet difficult winds. I guess with fear and unhelpful winds, they decide to sail the ship along the coast.

We can tell that they are travelling at a slow pace because the Day of Atonement has already passed. I guess they expected to reach where they were before that date. Paul warns the men of the journeys ahead being disastrous and causing loss of the ship, cargo and lives. Unfortunately, they do not listen to Paul and listen to the reasoning of the ship's owner. They wish to carry on because the harbor they were at was not a good place to stay during the winter.

Moving ahead, they were met with terrible weather. Storms cause the ship to be simply drawn along with it, unable to steer in their own direction. It was so bad that they had trouble keeping the lifeboat secure. In addition, they even began tossing the cargo and the ship's tackle overboard due to the storm. The terrible weather seemed to last so long and was so bad that they hadn’t seen the sun or stars for many days. They were also losing hope, being without food for a long time. Paul addresses them, first reminding them that they didn't listen to his advice. He also encourages them that they will be saved, though the ship will be destroyed. Paul tells them that an angel of God stood beside him explaining that Paul would in fact stand trial before Caesar. The angel also told Paul that the lives of those with Paul would be saved.

On the fourteenth night, they sensed that they were approaching land. They take measurements and find the water to be 120 feet deep, then later they find it to be 90 feet deep. It is still dark, so they hope for light so they can find land and head there for safety. Some are so desperate to leave that they pretend to let down anchors but attempt to instead let down the lifeboat. Paul warns the centurion and the soldiers that they need to stay with the ship, otherwise they cannot be saved. As a result, the lifeboat is cut down and let drift away.

Paul encourages them to eat, so he breaks bread and they all eat. Here we read that there were 276 people on the ship. After eating, they throw the grain into the sea. Daylight comes and they do not recognize the land that they see. They decide to run the ship into the land and they hit a sandbar. Now that they were almost there, the soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to keep them from escaping. However, the centurion wanted to save Paul, so he kept the soldiers from doing that. Those able to swim were ordered to jump overboard first in attempts to arrive at land. The rest were to take planks or pieces of the ship to use to arrive at the land. Everyone reached land safely.