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Read (and listen!) through the amazing story of Luke and Acts!
Immerse: Luke and Acts is part of Immerse: The Reading Bible, which takes you on a new and unique journey through the books of Luke and Acts in the New Testament. This fresh arrangement of the books highlights the depth of the New Testament’s fourfold witness to Jesus the Messiah. The Son of God, who fulfills all the longings and promises of the collected Scriptures. The goal of Bible reading is to understand the sacred writings in depth so we can learn to live with them. Using the text of the New Living Translation (NLT) from Tyndale Publishing, now you can experience Luke and Acts the same way the original readers did and be fully immersed in the most amazing story of all time!
Samantha: Welcome to Immerse Luke
and Acts, Day twenty, Week four
.
When the time came, we set sail for Italy.
Paul and several other prisoners
were placed in the custody of
a Roman officer named Julius, a
captain of the imperial regiment.
Aristarchus, a Macedonian from
Thessalonica, was also with us.
We left on a ship whose home port
was Adramitium on the northwest
coast of the province of Asia.
It was scheduled to make several stops
at ports along the coast of the province.
The next day when we docked at Sidon,
Julius was very kind to Paul and let
him go ashore to visit with friends
so they could provide for his needs.
Putting out to sea from there, we
encountered strong headwinds that made
it difficult to keep the ship on course.
So we sailed north of Cyprus
between the island and the mainland.
Keeping to the open sea, we passed along
the coast to Cilicia and Pamphylia,
landing at Myra, in the province of Lycia.
There, the commanding officer found an
Egyptian ship from Alexandria that was
bound for Italy, and he put us on board.
We had several days of slow
sailing, and after great
difficulty, we finally neared Nidus.
But the wind was against us, so
we sailed across to Crete, and
along the sheltered coast of the
island, past the Cape of Salmoni.
We struggled along the coast with great
difficulty, and finally arrived at
Fair Havens, near the town of Licia.
We had lost a lot of time.
The weather was becoming dangerous for sea
travel because it was so late in the fall.
And Paul spoke to the
ship's officers about it.
Men, he said, I believe there
is trouble ahead if we go on.
Shipwreck, loss of cargo, and
danger to our lives as well.
But the officer in charge of the
prisoners listened more to the ship's
captain and the owner than to Paul.
And since Fair Havens was an exposed
harbor, a poor place to spend the
winter, Most of the crew wanted to go
on to Phoenix, farther up the coast
of Crete, and spend the winter there.
Phoenix was a good harbor, with only
a southwest and northwest exposure.
When a light wind began blowing
from the south, the sailors
thought they could make it.
So they pulled up anchor and
sailed close to the shore of Crete.
But the weather changed abruptly.
And a wind of typhoon strength,
called a northeaster, burst across
the island and blew us out to sea.
The sailors couldn't turn the ship
into the wind, so they gave up
and let it run before the gale.
We sailed along the sheltered side of
a small island named Kata, where with
great difficulty we hoisted aboard
the lifeboat being towed behind us.
Then the sailors bound ropes around
the hull of the ship to strengthen it.
They were afraid of being driven
across to the sandbars of Sirtis off
the African coast, so they lowered
the sea anchor to slow the ship
and were driven before the wind.
The next day, as gale force winds
continued to batter the ship, the crew
began throwing the cargo overboard.
The following day, they even took some of
the ship's gear and threw it overboard.
The terrible storm raged for many days,
blotting out the sun and the stars,
until at last, all hope was gone.
No one had eaten for a long time.
Finally, Paul called the crew together
and said, Men, you should have listened to
me in the first place and not left Crete.
You would have avoided
all this damage and loss.
But take courage, none of
you will lose your lives even
though the ship will go down.
For last night an angel of the God to whom
I belong and whom I serve stood beside me.
And he said, don't be afraid Paul, for
you will surely stand trial before Caesar.
What's more, God in his
goodness has granted safety
to everyone sailing with you.
So take courage.
For I believe God.
It will be just as he said, but we
will be shipwrecked on an island.
About midnight on the fourteenth
night of the storm, as we were being
driven across the Sea of Adria,
the sailors sensed land was near.
They dropped a weighted line and found
that the water was 120 feet deep.
But a little later, they measured again
and found it was only 90 feet deep.
At this rate, they were afraid we
would soon be driven against the
rocks along the shore, so they threw
out four anchors from the back of
the ship and prayed for daylight.
Then the sailors tried
to abandon the ship.
They lowered the lifeboat as
though they were going to put out
anchors from the front of the ship.
But Paul said to the commanding
officer and the soldiers, You will all
die unless the sailors stay aboard.
So the soldiers cut the ropes to
the lifeboat and let it drift away.
Just as day was dawning,
Paul urged everyone to eat.
You have been so worried that you haven't
touched food for two weeks, he said.
Please eat something
now for your own good.
For not a hair of your heads will perish.
Then he took some bread, gave
thanks to God before them all,
and broke off a piece and ate it.
Then everyone was encouraged and began
to eat, all 276 of us who were on board.
After eating, the crew lightened
the ship further by throwing
the cargo of wheat overboard.
When morning dawned, they didn't recognize
the coastline, but they saw a bay with
a beach and wondered if they could get
to shore by running the ship aground.
So they cut off the anchors
and left them in the sea.
Then they lowered the rudders, raised
the foresail, and headed toward shore.
But they hit a shoal and ran
the ship aground too soon.
The bow of the ship stuck fast, while the
stern was repeatedly smashed by the force
of the waves and began to break apart.
The soldiers wanted to kill
the prisoners to make sure they
didn't swim ashore and escape.
But the commanding officer wanted
to spare Paul, so he didn't
let them carry out their plan.
Then he ordered all who could swim to
jump overboard first and make for land.
The others held on to planks or
debris from the broken ship, so
everyone escaped safely to shore.
Once we were safe on shore, we learned
that we were on the island of Malta.
The people of the island
were very kind to us.
It was cold and rainy, so they built
a fire on the shore to welcome us.
As Paul gathered an armful of
sticks and was laying them on the
fire, a poisonous snake, driven out
by the heat, bit him on the hand.
The people of the island saw it
hanging from his hand and said to
each other, A murderer, no doubt.
Though he escaped the sea, justice
will not permit him to live.
But Paul shook off the snake
into the fire, and was unharmed.
The people waited for him to
swell up or suddenly drop dead.
But when they had waited a long time and
saw that he wasn't harmed, they changed
their minds and decided he was a god.
Near the shore where we landed was
an estate belonging to Publius,
the chief official of the island.
He welcomed us and treated
us kindly for three days.
As it happened, Publius father
was ill with fever and dysentery.
Paul went in and prayed for him.
And laying his hands
on him, he healed him.
Then all the other sick people on
the island came and were healed.
As a result, we were showered with honors.
And when the time came to sail,
people supplied us with everything
we would need for the trip.
It was three months after the shipwreck
that we set sail on another ship that had
wintered at the island, an Alexandrian
ship with the twin gods as its figurehead.
Our first stop was Syracuse,
where we stayed three days.
From there, we sailed across to Regium.
A day later, a south wind began
blowing, so the following day we
sailed up the coast to Putili.
There we found some believers who
invited us to spend a week with
them, and so we came to Rome.
The brothers and sisters in Rome had
heard we were coming, and they came to
meet us at the forum on the Appian Way.
Others joined us at the three taverns.
When Paul saw them, he was
encouraged and thanked God.
When we arrived in Rome, Paul was
permitted to have his own private lodging.
Though he was guarded by a soldier.
Three days after Paul's arrival, he
called together the local Jewish leaders.
He said to them, Brothers, I was
arrested in Jerusalem and handed over
to the Roman government, even though
I had done nothing against our people
or the customs of our ancestors.
The Romans tried me and wanted
to release me because they found
no cause for the death sentence.
But when the Jewish leaders
protested the decision, I felt
it necessary to appeal to Caesar.
Even though I had no desire to press
charges against my own people, I asked
you to come here today so we could get
acquainted, and so I could explain to
you that I am bound with this chain
because I believe that the hope of
Israel, the Messiah, has already come.
They replied, We have had no letters
from Judea or reports against you
from anyone who has come here, but
we want to hear what you believe.
For the only thing we know
about this movement is that
it is denounced everywhere.
So a time was set, and on that day a large
number of people came to Paul's lodging.
He explained and testified about the
kingdom of God, and tried to persuade
them about Jesus from the scriptures.
Using the Law of Moses and the
Books of the Prophets, he spoke to
them from morning until evening.
Some were persuaded by the things
he said, but others did not believe.
And after they had argued back and
forth among themselves, they left
with this final word from Paul.
The Holy Spirit was right when He said to
your ancestors through Isaiah the prophet,
Go and say to this people, When you hear
what I say, you will not understand.
When you see what I do,
you will not comprehend.
For the hearts of these people are
hardened, and their ears cannot hear.
And they have closed their
eyes, so their eyes cannot see.
And their ears cannot hear, and their
hearts cannot understand, and they
cannot turn to me, and let me heal them.
So I want you to know that this salvation
from God has also been offered to the
Gentiles, and they will accept it.
For the next two years, Paul
lived in Rome at his own expense.
He welcomed all who visited him, boldly
proclaiming the kingdom of God, and
teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ.
And no one tried to stop him.
This concludes today's
immerse reading experience.
Thank you for joining us.