A Viagem de Paulo para Roma
1Quando ficou decidido que navegaríamos para a Itália, Paulo e alguns outros presos foram entregues a um centurião chamado Júlio, que pertencia ao Regimento Imperial. 2Embarcamos num navio de Adramítio, que estava de partida para alguns lugares da província da Ásia, e saímos ao mar, estando conosco Aristarco, um macedônio de Tessalônica.
3No dia seguinte, ancoramos em Sidom; e Júlio, num gesto de bondade para com Paulo, permitiu-lhe que fosse ao encontro dos seus amigos, para que estes suprissem as suas necessidades. 4Quando partimos de lá, passamos ao norte de Chipre, porque os ventos nos eram contrários. 5Tendo atravessado o mar aberto ao longo da Cilícia e da Panfília, ancoramos em Mirra, na Lícia. 6Ali, o centurião encontrou um navio alexandrino que estava de partida para a Itália e nele nos fez embarcar. 7Navegamos vagarosamente por muitos dias e tivemos dificuldade para chegar a Cnido. Não sendo possível prosseguir em nossa rota, devido aos ventos contrários, navegamos ao sul de Creta, defronte de Salmona. 8Costeamos a ilha com dificuldade e chegamos a um lugar chamado Bons Portos, perto da cidade de Laseia.
9Tínhamos perdido muito tempo, e agora a navegação se tornara perigosa, pois já havia passado o Jejum27.9 Isto é, o Dia da Expiação (Yom Kippur).. Por isso Paulo os advertiu: 10“Senhores, vejo que a nossa viagem será desastrosa e acarretará grande prejuízo para o navio, para a carga e também para a nossa vida”. 11Mas o centurião, em vez de ouvir o que Paulo falava, seguiu o conselho do piloto e do dono do navio. 12Visto que o porto não era próprio para passar o inverno, a maioria decidiu que deveríamos continuar navegando, com a esperança de alcançar Fenice e ali passar o inverno. Este era um porto de Creta, que dava para sudoeste e noroeste.
A Tempestade
13Começando a soprar suavemente o vento sul, eles pensaram que haviam obtido o que desejavam; por isso levantaram âncoras e foram navegando ao longo da costa de Creta. 14Pouco tempo depois, desencadeou-se da ilha um vento muito forte, chamado Nordeste. 15O navio foi arrastado pela tempestade, sem poder resistir ao vento; assim, cessamos as manobras e ficamos à deriva. 16Passando ao sul de uma pequena ilha chamada Clauda, foi com dificuldade que conseguimos recolher o barco salva-vidas. 17Levantando-o, lançaram mão de todos os meios para reforçar o navio com cordas; e, temendo que ele encalhasse nos bancos de areia de Sirte, baixaram as velas e deixaram o navio à deriva. 18No dia seguinte, sendo violentamente castigados pela tempestade, começaram a lançar fora a carga. 19No terceiro dia, lançaram fora, com as próprias mãos, a armação do navio. 20Não aparecendo nem sol nem estrelas por muitos dias e continuando a abater-se sobre nós grande tempestade, finalmente perdemos toda a esperança de salvamento.
21Visto que os homens tinham passado muito tempo sem comer, Paulo levantou-se diante deles e disse: “Os senhores deviam ter aceitado o meu conselho de não partir de Creta, pois assim teriam evitado este dano e prejuízo. 22Mas agora recomendo que tenham coragem, pois nenhum de vocês perderá a vida; apenas o navio será destruído. 23Pois ontem à noite apareceu-me um anjo do Deus a quem pertenço e a quem adoro, dizendo-me: 24‘Paulo, não tenha medo. É preciso que você compareça perante César; Deus, por sua graça, deu-lhe a vida de todos os que estão navegando com você’. 25Assim, tenham ânimo, senhores! Creio em Deus que acontecerá conforme me foi dito. 26Devemos ser arrastados para alguma ilha”.
O Naufrágio
27Na décima quarta noite, ainda estávamos sendo levados de um lado para outro no mar Adriático27.27 O nome Adriático referia-se a uma área que se estendia até o extremo sul da Itália., quando, por volta da meia-noite, os marinheiros imaginaram que estávamos próximos da terra. 28Lançando a sonda, verificaram que a profundidade era de trinta e sete metros27.28 Grego: 20 braças.; pouco tempo depois, lançaram novamente a sonda e encontraram vinte e sete metros27.28 Grego: 15 braças.. 29Temendo que fôssemos jogados contra as pedras, lançaram quatro âncoras da popa e faziam preces para que amanhecesse o dia. 30Tentando escapar do navio, os marinheiros baixaram o barco salva-vidas ao mar, a pretexto de lançar âncoras da proa. 31Então Paulo disse ao centurião e aos soldados: “Se estes homens não ficarem no navio, vocês não poderão salvar-se”. 32Com isso os soldados cortaram as cordas que prendiam o barco salva-vidas e o deixaram cair.
33Pouco antes do amanhecer, Paulo insistia que todos se alimentassem, dizendo: “Hoje faz catorze dias que vocês têm estado em vigília constante, sem nada comer. 34Agora eu os aconselho a comer algo, pois só assim poderão sobreviver. Nenhum de vocês perderá um fio de cabelo sequer”. 35Tendo dito isso, tomou pão e deu graças a Deus diante de todos. Então o partiu e começou a comer. 36Todos se reanimaram e também comeram algo. 37Estavam a bordo duzentas e setenta e seis pessoas. 38Depois de terem comido até ficarem satisfeitos, aliviaram o peso do navio, atirando todo o trigo ao mar.
39Quando amanheceu não reconheceram a terra, mas viram uma enseada com uma praia, para onde decidiram conduzir o navio, se fosse possível. 40Cortando as âncoras, deixaram-nas no mar, desatando ao mesmo tempo as cordas que prendiam os lemes. Então, alçando a vela da proa ao vento, dirigiram-se para a praia. 41Mas o navio encalhou num banco de areia, onde tocou o fundo. A proa encravou-se e ficou imóvel, e a popa foi quebrada pela violência das ondas.
42Os soldados resolveram matar os presos para impedir que algum deles fugisse, jogando-se ao mar. 43Mas o centurião queria poupar a vida de Paulo e os impediu de executar o plano. Então ordenou aos que sabiam nadar que se lançassem primeiro ao mar em direção à terra. 44Os outros teriam que salvar-se em tábuas ou em pedaços do navio. Dessa forma, todos chegaram a salvo em terra.
Paul Sails for Rome
1It was decided that we would sail for Italy. Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a Roman commander named Julius. He belonged to the Imperial Guard. 2We boarded a ship from Adramyttium. It was about to sail for ports along the coast of Asia Minor. We headed out to sea. Aristarchus was with us. He was a Macedonian from Thessalonica.
3The next day we landed at Sidon. There Julius was kind to Paul. He let Paul visit his friends so they could give him what he needed. 4From there we headed out to sea again. We passed the calmer side of Cyprus because the winds were against us. 5We sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia. Then we landed at Myra in Lycia. 6There the commander found a ship from Alexandria sailing for Italy. He put us on board. 7We moved along slowly for many days. We had trouble getting to Cnidus. The wind did not let us stay on course. So we passed the calmer side of Crete, opposite Salmone. 8It was not easy to sail along the coast. Then we came to a place called Fair Havens. It was near the town of Lasea.
9A lot of time had passed. Sailing had already become dangerous. By now it was after the Day of Atonement, a day of fasting. So Paul gave them a warning. 10“Men,” he said, “I can see that our trip is going to be dangerous. The ship and everything in it will be lost. Our own lives will be in danger also.” 11But the commander didn’t listen to what Paul said. Instead, he followed the advice of the pilot and the ship’s owner. 12The harbor wasn’t a good place for ships to stay during winter. So most of the people decided we should sail on. They hoped we would reach Phoenix. They wanted to spend the winter there. Phoenix was a harbor in Crete. It faced both southwest and northwest.
The Storm
13A gentle south wind began to blow. The ship’s crew thought they saw their chance to leave safely. So they pulled up the anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. 14Before very long, a wind blew down from the island. It had the force of a hurricane. It was called the Northeaster. 15The ship was caught by the storm. We could not keep it sailing into the wind. So we gave up and were driven along by the wind. 16We passed the calmer side of a small island called Cauda. We almost lost the lifeboat that was tied to the side of the ship. 17So the men lifted the lifeboat on board. Then they tied ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. They were afraid it would get stuck on the sandbars of Syrtis. So they lowered the sea anchor and let the ship be driven along. 18We took a very bad beating from the storm. The next day the crew began to throw the ship’s contents overboard. 19On the third day, they even threw the ship’s tools and supplies overboard with their own hands. 20The sun and stars didn’t appear for many days. The storm was terrible. So we gave up all hope of being saved.
21The men had not eaten for a long time. Paul stood up in front of them. “Men,” he said, “you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete. Then you would have avoided this harm and loss. 22Now I beg you to be brave. Not one of you will die. Only the ship will be destroyed. 23I belong to God and serve him. Last night his angel stood beside me. 24The angel said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must go on trial in front of Caesar. God has shown his grace by sparing the lives of all those sailing with you.’ 25Men, continue to be brave. I have faith in God. It will happen just as he told me. 26But we must run the ship onto the beach of some island.”
The Ship Is Destroyed
27On the 14th night the wind was still pushing us across the Adriatic Sea. About midnight the sailors had a feeling that they were approaching land. 28They measured how deep the water was. They found that it was 120 feet deep. A short time later they measured the water again. This time it was 90 feet deep. 29They were afraid we would crash against the rocks. So they dropped four anchors from the back of the ship. They prayed that daylight would come. 30The sailors wanted to escape from the ship. So they let the lifeboat down into the sea. They pretended they were going to lower some anchors from the front of the ship. 31But Paul spoke to the commander and the soldiers. “These men must stay with the ship,” he said. “If they don’t, you can’t be saved.” 32So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat. They let it drift away.
33Just before dawn Paul tried to get them all to eat. “For the last 14 days,” he said, “you have wondered what would happen. You have gone without food. You haven’t eaten anything. 34Now I am asking you to eat some food. You need it to live. Not one of you will lose a single hair from your head.” 35After Paul said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God. He did this where they all could see him. Then he broke it and began to eat. 36All of them were filled with hope. So they ate some food. 37There were 276 of us on board. 38They ate as much as they wanted. They needed to make the ship lighter. So they threw the rest of the grain into the sea.
39When daylight came, they saw a bay with a sandy beach. They didn’t recognize the place. But they decided to run the ship onto the beach if they could. 40So they cut the anchors loose and left them in the sea. At the same time, they untied the ropes that held the rudders. They lifted the sail at the front of the ship to the wind. Then they headed for the beach. 41But the ship hit a sandbar. So the front of it got stuck and wouldn’t move. The back of the ship was broken to pieces by the pounding of the waves.
42The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners. They wanted to keep them from swimming away and escaping. 43But the commander wanted to save Paul’s life. So he kept the soldiers from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and swim to land. 44The rest were supposed to get there on boards or other pieces of the ship. That is how everyone reached land safely.
