Acts 27:23-37

²³Last night an angel of my God and whom I serve, stood beside me.

²⁴‘Don't be afraid, Paul,’ he told me. ‘You have to stand trial before Caesar. See, God has graciously given to you everyone who is sailing with you.’

²⁵So men, have courage! I trust God, and I'm convinced things will happen just as I was told.

²⁶However, we will be wrecked on some island.”

²⁷At around midnight on the fourteenth night of the storm, still being blown over the Sea of Adria, the crew suspected they were getting close to land.

²⁸They checked the depth and found it was forty meters, and a little while later they checked again and it was thirty meters.

²⁹They were concerned that we might be wrecked on rocks, so they dropped four anchors from the stern, and prayed for daylight to come.

³⁰The crew tried to leave the ship, and had lowered the ship's boat into the water with the pretext that they were going to drop anchors from the ship's bow.

³¹But Paul told the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless the crew stays with the ship, you will be lost.”

³²So the soldiers cut the ropes holding the ship's boat, and let it loose.

³³At daybreak Paul urged all of them to eat something. “It's been fourteen days now that you haven't eaten anything because you've been so worried and preoccupied,” he told them.

³⁴“Please do what I say and eat some food. This will help give you strength. For not even a hair from anyone's head is going to be lost!”

³⁵When he'd finished speaking he picked up a loaf of bread, and gave thanks to God for it in front of everyone. Then he broke the bread, and began to eat.

³⁶Everyone was encouraged and they ate too.

³⁷The total number of people on board was two hundred and seventy-six.