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.