18. The next day the storm was blowing us so hard that the men threw out some of the cargo.
19. A day later they threw out the ship’s equipment.
20. For many days we could not see the sun or the stars. The storm was very bad. We lost all hope of staying alive—we thought we would die.
21. The men had gone without food for a long time. Then one day Paul stood up before them and said, “Men, I told you not to leave Crete. You should have listened to me. Then you would not have all this trouble and loss.
22. But now I tell you to cheer up. None of you will die! But the ship will be lost.
23. Last night an angel from God came to me. This is the God I worship. I am his.
24. God’s angel said, ‘Paul, do not be afraid! You must stand before Caesar. And God has given you this promise: He will save the lives of all those men sailing with you.’
25. So men, be cheerful! I trust in God. Everything will happen as his angel told me.
26. But we will crash on an island.”
27. On the fourteenth night we were floating around in the Adriatic Sea. The sailors thought we were close to land.
28. They threw a rope into the water with a weight on the end of it. They found that the water was 120 feet deep. They went a little farther and threw the rope in again. It was 90 feet deep.
29. The sailors were afraid that we would hit the rocks, so they threw four anchors into the water. Then they prayed for daylight to come.
30. Some of the sailors wanted to leave the ship, and they lowered the lifeboat. These sailors wanted the other men to think that they were throwing more anchors from the front of the ship.
31. But Paul told the officer and the other soldiers, “If these men do not stay in the ship, your lives cannot be saved!”
32. So the soldiers cut the ropes and let the lifeboat fall into the water.
33. Just before dawn Paul began persuading all the people to eat something. He said, “For the past 14 days you have been waiting and watching. You have not eaten.
34. Now I beg you to eat something. You need it to stay alive. None of you will lose even one hair off your heads.”
35. After he said this, Paul took some bread and thanked God for it before all of them. He broke off a piece and began eating.