A partida de Paulo para Roma
1Finalmente, ao ficar decidido que viajaríamos por mar até Itália, Paulo e diversos outros presos foram confiados à vigilância de um oficial chamado Júlio, pertencente ao Regimento Imperial. 2Partimos num barco que ia para Adramítio e que tocaria em vários portos da costa da província da Ásia. Estávamos acompanhados de Aristarco, um macedónio de Tessalónica.
3No dia seguinte, quando atracámos em Sídon, Júlio mostrou-se muito amável com Paulo, permitindo-lhe que fosse a terra visitar amigos e receber a ajuda que precisasse. 4Quando dali partimos, apanhámos ventos contrários que tornavam difícil conservar o navio no rumo; assim, seguimos pelo norte de Chipre, 5entre a ilha e o continente, e costeámos as províncias da Cilícia e Panfília, desembarcando em Mirra na província da Lícia. 6Ali, o oficial encontrou um barco egípcio, vindo de Alexandria e que se dirigia à Itália, e fez-nos embarcar nele. 7Após vários dias de navegação difícil, aproximámo-nos, por fim, de Cnido, mas o vento era demasiado forte e atravessámos para Creta, passando o porto de Salmona. 8Navegando com grande dificuldade, e avançando lentamente ao longo da costa sul, chegámos a Bons Portos, perto da cidade de Laseia.
9Ali nos demorámos vários dias. O tempo estava já a ficar perigoso para viagens de longo curso, porque a época do jejum já tinha passado e se aproximava o inverno, e Paulo falou nisso à tripulação: 10“Meus senhores, vejo que sofreremos um desastre se prosseguirmos viagem, e que podemos até perder a carga e as nossas vidas.” 11Mas os oficiais encarregados de vigiarem os presos davam mais ouvidos ao piloto e ao dono do navio do que a Paulo. 12Como aquele porto não tivesse boas condições para passar o inverno, a maior parte da tripulação achava melhor tentar subir mais pela costa até Fénix, que era outro porto, mas abrigado, aberto só a sudoeste e noroeste, e onde se podia passar melhor o inverno.
A tempestade
13Nesse instante começou a soprar brandamente um vento do sul, parecendo-lhes ter as condições que desejavam; assim, levantaram ferro e foram navegando ao longo da costa de Creta. 14Pouco depois, porém, um vento muito forte abateu-se sobre o navio, empurrando-o para o mar; era “o nordeste”, como lhe chamavam. 15E não conseguindo navegar, demos mão de tudo e deixámos o navio ir à deriva do vento.
16Finalmente, viemos parar atrás duma pequena ilha chamada Cauda, onde com grande dificuldade içámos para bordo o bote que trazíamos a reboque, 17amarrando depois o barco com cordas para reforçar o casco. Os marinheiros tinham medo de ser atirados para os bancos de areia de Sirte, na costa africana, baixaram a vela grande e continuaram assim, impelidos pelo vento.
18No dia seguinte, como o temporal nos afligisse ainda mais, a tripulação começou a deitar a carga pela borda fora. 19No outro dia, atiraram ao mar com as próprias mãos os aprestos. 20Esta terrível tempestade continuou durante muitos dias sem abrandar, não sendo possível a orientação nem pelo Sol nem pelas estrelas. Por fim, todas as esperanças de salvação se perderam.
21Ninguém comia havia já muito tempo, até que Paulo, reunindo a tripulação, disse: “Deviam ter-me dado ouvidos e não sair de Bons Portos; ter-se-ia evitado todo este estrago e perda! 22Mas agora, coragem! O navio afundará, mas nenhum de nós perderá a vida. 23Porque a noite passada um anjo do Deus a quem pertenço e sirvo surgiu perante mim 24e disse: ‘Nada receies, Paulo, porque serás julgado diante de César! E mais ainda: Deus, na sua graça, concedeu o teu pedido e salvará a vida de todos os que contigo viajam.’ 25Por isso, animem-se! Creio em Deus. Estou certo de que será tal como ele disse. 26Todavia, teremos de naufragar nalguma ilha.”
O naufrágio
27Perto de meia-noite, a décima quarta da tempestade, andávamos nós perdidos no Adriático, quando os marinheiros desconfiaram que havia terra ali perto. 28Lançaram a sonda e encontraram 37 metros de fundo. Pouco depois, já eram só 28 metros. 29E com medo de encalhar em rochedos, lançaram quatro âncoras pela ré, orando para que chegasse a manhã. 30Alguns dos marinheiros resolveram escapar-se do barco e arrearam o escaler de emergência, sob o pretexto de lançar âncoras pela proa. 31Paulo, porém, disse aos soldados e ao comandante: “Ninguém se poderá salvar se estes homens não ficarem a bordo.” 32Então os soldados cortaram os cabos e deixaram o escaler tombar na água.
33Quando veio a luz da madrugada, Paulo pediu a todos que comessem: “Há duas semanas que ninguém se alimenta. 34Por favor, e para vosso bem, comam agora qualquer coisa, porque nem um cabelo das vossas cabeças se perderá.” 35Ele próprio pegou num pão, agradeceu a Deus na presença de todos, partiu um pedaço e comeu-o. 36Toda a gente se sentiu mais animada e começou a comer. 37Éramos duzentos e setenta e seis pessoas a bordo. 38Depois de comer, os tripulantes tornaram a aliviar o navio, deitando todo o trigo pela borda fora.
39Quando se fez dia, não reconheceram a costa, mas repararam numa baía com uma praia, para a qual decidiram tentar conduzir o navio. 40Cortando os cabos às âncoras, e deixando-as no fundo, desprenderam os lemes, içaram a vela grande e apontaram à praia. 41O barco, porém, encalhou num banco de areia. A proa enterrou-se, enquanto a popa ficou exposta à erosão da força das ondas.
42Os soldados aconselharam o seu comandante a deixá-los matar os presos, não fosse algum nadar para terra e escapar. 43Mas Júlio, desejando poupar a vida a Paulo, disse que não. Mandou então a todos os que soubessem nadar que saltassem pela amurada e fossem para terra, 44enquanto os restantes tentariam fazê-lo agarrados a pranchas e destroços do navio. E foi assim que todos chegaram a salvo a 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.
