Acts 27:31

Modern

But Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men remain with the ship, you cannot be saved.”

Traditional

Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved.

Literal

Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, “Unless these remain in the ship, you are not able to be saved.”

Latin

…dixit Paulus centurioni et militibus: Nisi hi in navi manserint, vos salvi fieri non potestis.

Greek

English

But Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men remain with the ship, you cannot be saved.”

This time the soldiers listened to Paul (compare 27:10–11).

The graphic language describing sailing in the story of Paul's journey to Rome provides one of the best accounts of an ancient sea journey.
This is the last "we" section in Acts (see also 16:10–17; 20:5–15; 21:1–18). During Paul's two years of imprisonment, Luke probably researched his gospel throughout Judea and Galilee. Here, as part of Paul's sailing group, he had a personal witness of the dangers at sea.

Theme notes and profiles

2 Thessalonians 2:13–14
But we should always thank God for you, brothers who are loved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning to be saved by the sanctification of the Spirit and by faith in the truth.
Jeremiah 29:11–13
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.
Psalm 91:11–12
For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
Acts 27:21–24
After the men had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have followed my advice not to sail from Crete. Then you would have averted this disaster and loss.
Acts 27:11
But contrary to Paul’s advice, the centurion was persuaded by the pilot and by the owner of the ship.
Acts 27:42–43
The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners so none of them could swim to freedom.
Ezekiel 36:36–37
Then the nations around you that remain will know that I, the LORD, have rebuilt what was destroyed, and I have replanted what was desolate. I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will do it.
Luke 1:34–35
“How can this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
John 6:37
Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never drive away.
Luke 4:9–12
Then the devil led Him to Jerusalem and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple. “If You are the Son of God,” he said, “throw Yourself down from here.

Paul: Apostle to the Gentiles, author of many NT epistles