Paul’s Shipwreck

A prisoner, Paul is put on a ship bound for Italy under the guard of a centurion named Julius. He warns that the voyage will be dangerous, but they choose to listen to the pilot. Soon a tempestuous wind called Euroclydon sweeps the ship away; the cargo is thrown overboard, then the ship’s tackling, and for many days neither sun nor stars appear: everyone gives up hope. Paul then speaks up: an angel has appeared to him, no one will be lost, only the ship. Before dawn on the fourteenth day, he urges everyone to eat, breaks bread and gives thanks, and the two hundred and seventy-six people on board take heart. The ship runs aground and breaks apart, but everyone reaches land safely. On Malta, a viper fastens on Paul’s hand: he shakes it off into the fire and feels no harm, then heals the father of Publius. Finally, in Rome, he preaches “with all confidence, no man forbidding him.”