1 Every wise woman has built her household,
but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands.
2 The one who walks in his uprightness fears the Lord,
but the one who is perverted in his ways despises him.
3 In the speech of a fool is a rod for his back,
but the words of the wise protect them.
4 Where there are no oxen, the feeding trough is clean,
but an abundant harvest is produced by strong oxen.
5 A truthful witness does not lie,
but a false witness breathes out lies.
6 The scorner sought wisdom—there was none,
but understanding was easy for a discerning person.
7 Walk abreast with a foolish person,
and you do not understand wise counsel.
8 The wisdom of the shrewd person is to discern his way,
but the folly of fools is deception.
9 Fools mock at reparation,
but among the upright there is favor.
10 The heart knows its own bitterness,
and with its joy no one else can share.
11 The household of the wicked will be destroyed,
but the tent of the upright will flourish.
12 There is a way that seems right to a person,
but its end is the way that leads to death.
13 Even in laughter the heart may ache,
and the end of joy may be grief.
14 The backslider will be paid back from his own ways,
but a good person will be rewarded for his.
15 A naive person will believe anything,
but the shrewd person discerns his steps.
16 A wise person is cautious and turns from evil,
but a fool throws off restraint and is overconfident.
17 A person who has a quick temper will do foolish things,
and a person with crafty schemes will be hated.
18 The naive have inherited folly,
but the shrewd will be crowned with knowledge.
19 Bad people have bowed before good people,
and wicked people have bowed at the gates of someone righteous.
20 A poor person will be disliked even by his neighbors,
but those who love the rich are many.
21 The one who despises his neighbor sins,
but whoever is kind to the needy is blessed.
22 Do not those who devise evil go astray?
But those who plan good exhibit faithful covenant love.
23 In all hard work there is profit,
but merely talking about it only brings poverty.
24 The crown of the wise is their riches,
but the folly of fools is folly.
25 A truthful witness rescues lives,
but one who testifies falsely betrays them.
26 In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence,
and it will be a refuge for his children.
27 The fear of the Lord is like a life-giving fountain,
to turn people from deadly snares.
28 A king’s glory is the abundance of people,
but the lack of subjects is the ruin of a ruler.
29 Someone with great understanding is slow to anger,
but the one who has a quick temper exalts folly.
30 A tranquil spirit revives the body,
but envy is rottenness to the bones.
31 The one who oppresses the poor has insulted his Creator,
but whoever honors him shows favor to the needy.
32 An evil person will be thrown down through his wickedness,
but a righteous person takes refuge in his integrity.
33 Wisdom rests in the heart of the discerning;
it is not known in the inner parts of fools.
34 Righteousness exalts a nation,
but sin is a disgrace to any people.
35 The king shows favor to a wise servant,
but his wrath falls on one who acts shamefully.
1 When it was decided we would sail to Italy, they handed over Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan Cohort named Julius. 2 We went on board a ship from Adramyttium that was about to sail to various ports along the coast of the province of Asia and put out to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica. 3 The next day we put in at Sidon, and Julius, treating Paul kindly, allowed him to go to his friends so they could provide him with what he needed. 4 From there we put out to sea and sailed under the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us. 5 After we had sailed across the open sea off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we put in at Myra in Lycia. 6 There the centurion found a ship from Alexandria sailing for Italy, and he put us aboard it. 7 We sailed slowly for many days and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus. Because the wind prevented us from going any farther, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone. 8 With difficulty we sailed along the coast of Crete and came to a place called Fair Havens that was near the town of Lasea.
9 Since considerable time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous because the fast was already over, Paul advised them, 10 “Men, I can see the voyage is going to end in disaster and great loss not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.” 11 But the centurion was more convinced by the captain and the ship’s owner than by what Paul said. 12 Because the harbor was not suitable to spend the winter in, the majority decided to put out to sea from there. They hoped that somehow they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete facing southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there. 13 When a gentle south wind sprang up, they thought they could carry out their purpose, so they weighed anchor and sailed close along the coast of Crete. 14 Not long after this, a hurricane-force wind called the northeaster blew down from the island. 15 When the ship was caught in it and could not head into the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along. 16 As we ran under the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were able with difficulty to get the ship’s boat under control. 17 After the crew had hoisted it aboard, they used supports to undergird the ship. Fearing they would run aground on the Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor, thus letting themselves be driven along. 18 The next day, because we were violently battered by the storm, they began throwing the cargo overboard, 19 and on the third day they threw the ship’s gear overboard with their own hands. 20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and a violent storm continued to batter us, we finally abandoned all hope of being saved.
21 Since many of them had no desire to eat, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not put out to sea from Crete, thus avoiding this damage and loss. 22 And now I advise you to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only the ship will be lost. 23 For last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve came to me 24 and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul! You must stand before Caesar, and God has graciously granted you the safety of all who are sailing with you.’ 25 Therefore keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will be just as I have been told. 26 But we must run aground on some island.”
27 When the fourteenth night had come, while we were being driven across the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors suspected they were approaching some land. 28 They took soundings and found the water was twenty fathoms deep; when they had sailed a little farther they took soundings again and found it was fifteen fathoms deep. 29 Because they were afraid that we would run aground on the rocky coast, they threw out four anchors from the stern and wished for day to appear. 30 Then when the sailors tried to escape from the ship and were lowering the ship’s boat into the sea, pretending that they were going to put out anchors from the bow, 31 Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved.” 32 Then the soldiers cut the ropes of the ship’s boat and let it drift away.
33 As day was about to dawn, Paul urged them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day you have been in suspense and have gone without food; you have eaten nothing. 34 Therefore I urge you to take some food, for this is important for your survival. For not one of you will lose a hair from his head.” 35 After he said this, Paul took bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all, broke it, and began to eat. 36 So all of them were encouraged and took food themselves. 37 (We were in all 276 persons on the ship.) 38 When they had eaten enough to be satisfied, they lightened the ship by throwing the wheat into the sea.
39 When day came, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, where they decided to run the ship aground if they could. 40 So they slipped the anchors and left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the linkage that bound the steering oars together. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and steered toward the beach. 41 But they encountered a patch of crosscurrents and ran the ship aground; the bow stuck fast and could not be moved, but the stern was being broken up by the force of the waves. 42 Now the soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners so that none of them would escape by swimming away. 43 But the centurion, wanting to save Paul’s life, prevented them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land, 44 and the rest were to follow, some on planks and some on pieces of the ship. And in this way all were brought safely to land.