Acts 27:1-12 - Paul And His Associates Sail For Rome

¹ And when it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they transferred Paul and certain other prisoners to the custody of a military officer named Julius, of the Augustan battalion. ² We boarded a ship [originating] from Adramyttium which was ready to sail [from here in Caesarea], heading out to sea for parts of the coast of [the province of] Asia. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, went with us. ³ The next day we stopped at Sidon [i.e., a seaport on the northwest coast of Palestine]. Julius treated Paul with kindness, [even] giving him the opportunity to meet his friends [there] and receive help [from them]. ⁴ We headed out to sea from there and sailed along the sheltered side of Cyprus because the wind was against us. ⁵ When we had sailed across the sea, off [the coast of] Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, [a town] of Lycia. ⁶ There Julius, the military officer, arranged [passage] for us on a ship, [originating] from Alexandria, [and] bound for Italy, and put us on board. ⁷ When we had sailed slowly for many days [and] had trouble passing Cnidus because of an unfavorable wind, we sailed on the sheltered side of Crete and on past Salmone. ⁸ After making our way along the coast [of Crete] with difficulty, we arrived at a place called Fair Harbors [i.e., the principal seaport of the island], which was near the town of Lasea.

⁹ After much time had passed, the voyage became more dangerous because it was [now] past the Day of Atonement [Note: This would have been around September or October, when a sea voyage involved rough sailing]. So, Paul began warning the people [aboard ship], ¹⁰ saying, "Sirs, I can see that this voyage will result in suffering and much loss, not only to the ship and its cargo, but also to our [very] lives." ¹¹ But the military officer paid more attention to the captain and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul was saying. ¹² And, because the harbor was not suitable for staying in all winter, most of those on board were in favor of putting out to sea from there. They were hoping to reach Phoenix, [another] harbor on [the island of] Crete, which faced northwest and southwest, and [then] to spend the winter there.