The Early Church

and the third day, they threw the ship’s sailing equipment overboard with their own hands.

For many days neither the sun nor the stars appeared, while the storm continued to rage, until gradually all hope of survival vanished.

It was then, when they had gone a long time without eating, that Sha’ul stood up in front of them and said, “You should have listened to me and not set out from Crete; if you had, you would have escaped this disastrous loss.

But now, my advice to you is to take heart; because not one of you will lose his life — only the ship will be lost.

For this very night, there stood next to me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve.

He said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Sha’ul! you have to stand before the Emperor. Look! God has granted you all those who are sailing with you.’

So, men, take heart! For I trust God and believe that what I have been told will come true.

Nevertheless, we have to run aground on some island.”

It was the fourteenth night, and we were still being driven about in the Adriatic Sea, when around midnight the sailors sensed that we were nearing land.

So they dropped a plumbline and found the water one hundred and twenty feet deep. A little farther on, they took another sounding and found it ninety feet.

Fearing we might run on the rocks, they let out four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight to come.

At this point, the crew made an attempt to abandon ship — they lowered the lifeboat into the sea, pretending that they were about to let out some anchors from the bow.

Sha’ul said to the officer and the soldiers, “Unless these men remain aboard the ship, you yourselves cannot be saved.”

Then the soldiers cut the ropes holding the lifeboat and let it go.

Just before daybreak, Sha’ul urged them all to eat, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day you have been in suspense, going hungry, eating nothing.

Therefore I advise you to take some food; you need it for your own survival. For not one of you will lose so much as a hair from his head.”

When he had said this, he took bread, said the b’rakhah to God in front of everyone, broke it and began to eat.

With courage restored, they all ate some food themselves.

Altogether there were 276 of us on board the ship.

After they had eaten all they wanted, they lightened the ship by dumping the grain into the sea.

When day broke, they didn’t recognize the land; but they noticed a bay with a sand beach, where they decided to run the ship aground if they could.

So they cut away the anchors and left them in the sea; at the same time, they loosened the ropes that held the rudders out of the water. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and headed for the beach.

But they encountered a place where two currents meet, and ran the vessel aground on the sandbar there. The bow stuck and would not move, while the pounding of the surf began to break up the stern.

At this point the soldiers’ thought was to kill the prisoners, so that none of them would swim off and escape.

But the officer, wanting to save Sha’ul, kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to throw themselves overboard first and head for shore,