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In sight of land:
v. 27. But when the fourteenth night was come, as we were driven up and down in Adria, about midnight the shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country,
v. 28. and sounded, and found it twenty fathoms; and when they had gone a little further, they sounded again, and found it fifteen fathoms.
v. 29. Then, fearing lest we should have fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern and wished for the day.
v. 30. And as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship, when they had let down the boat into the sea, under color as though they would have cast anchors out of the foreship,
v. 31. Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved.
v. 32. Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat, and let her fall off.
About this time the ship, a mere plaything of the waves, was being tossed about in the Adria, in the Ionian Sea between Sicily and Greece, being driven in a uniform, continuous motion toward the west, and the fourteenth night had descended upon them. It was about in the middle of the night when the sailors surmised, not because they were able to distinguish anything in the dense darkness, but because the sound of the waves, the rolling of the breakers, seemed to indicate as much, that same land was approaching them, just as it appears to a traveler from the deck of a ship. So they quickly took soundings and found the depth to be twenty fathoms (a fathom, six feet); however, after they had traversed but a little more space and had again cast out the sounding-lead, they measured fifteen fathoms. The conclusion which they drew from these soundings made the crew fear, together with the passengers, that they would be cast on rocky ground, either on the shore or on submerged reefs. So they let down four anchors from the stern of the ship and heartily wished that day would dawn. Anchorage from the stern in this case, not knowing what was a score of feet away from them, enabled the sailors to manage the ship far more easily and would keep her under the control of the helm, in case it would prove feasible to run her ashore in the morning. Paul was on deck; as were most of the passengers, and so he was enabled to thwart a treacherous plan of the crew. For the sailors desired earnestly to flee from the ship, to escape and leave soldiers, passengers, and prisoners to their fate; they lowered the small boat into the sea with the plea that they wanted to let down anchors from the bow, or prow, of the ship as well. They pretended that they must take the anchors the full cable length away. But Paul, noticing their deception, told the centurion and the soldiers that, unless these men remained in the ship, they all could not be saved. The soldiers thereupon made short work of the matter. They simply chopped off the ropes that held the boat and let her fall down, the waves at once carrying the skiff away. Thus Paul again saved the lives of all the people on the ship, for it stood to reason that neither the soldiers nor the passengers would be able to handle the vessel in an emergency like the present one. A Christian will at all times have the welfare of all men at heart and, so far as lies in his power, will advise, help, and protect them in every bodily need.