²⁷But when the fourteenth night had come, as we were driven back and forth in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors surmised that they were drawing near to some land. ²⁸They took soundings, and found twenty fathoms. After a little while, they took soundings again, and found fifteen fathoms. ²⁹Fearing that we would run aground on rocky ground, they let go four anchors from the stern, and wished for daylight. ³⁰As the sailors were trying to flee out of the ship, and had lowered the boat into the sea, pretending that they would lay out anchors from the bow, ³¹Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, “Unless these stay in the ship, you can’t be saved.” ³²Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the boat, and let it fall off. ³³While the day was coming on, Paul begged them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you wait and continue fasting, having taken nothing. ³⁴Therefore I beg you to take some food; for this is for your safety; for not a hair will perish from any of your heads.” ³⁵When he had said this, and had taken bread, he gave thanks to God in the presence of all, then he broke it and began to eat. ³⁶Then they all cheered up, and they also took food. ³⁷In all, we were two hundred seventy-six souls on the ship. ³⁸When they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea. ³⁹When it was day, they didn’t recognize the land, but they noticed a certain bay with a beach, and they decided to try to drive the ship onto it. ⁴⁰Casting off the anchors, they left them in the sea, at the same time untying the rudder ropes. Hoisting up the foresail to the wind, they made for the beach. ⁴¹But coming to a place where two seas met, they ran the vessel aground. The bow struck and remained immovable, but the stern began to break up by the violence of the waves. ⁴²The soldiers’ counsel was to kill the prisoners, so that none of them would swim out and escape. ⁴³But the centurion, desiring to save Paul, stopped them from their purpose, and commanded that those who could swim should throw themselves overboard first to go toward the land; ⁴⁴and the rest should follow, some on planks, and some on other things from the ship. So they all escaped safely to the land.