24 saying, Be not afraid Paul; before Caesar it behoveth thee to stand; and, lo, God hath granted to thee all those sailing with thee;
And on the following night, the Lord having stood by him, said, `Take courage, Paul, for as thou didst fully testify the things concerning me at Jerusalem, so it behoveth thee also at Rome to testify.'
And when I saw him, I did fall at his feet as dead, and he placed his right hand upon me, saying to me, `Be not afraid; I am the First and the Last,
in my first defence no one stood with me, but all forsook me, (may it not be reckoned to them!) and the Lord stood by me, and did strengthen me, that through me the preaching might be fully assured, and all the nations might hear, and I was freed out of the mouth of a lion,
(and we were -- all the souls in the ship -- two hundred, seventy and six),
And the Lord said unto him, `Be going on, because a choice vessel to Me is this one, to bear My name before nations and kings -- the sons also of Israel;
And Jehovah doth lead thee continually, And hath satisfied in drought thy soul, And thy bones He armeth, And thou hast been as a watered garden, And as an outlet of waters, whose waters lie not. And they have built out of thee the wastes of old, The foundations of many generations thou raisest up, And one calleth thee, `Repairer of the breach, Restorer of paths to rest in.'
And now, thus said Jehovah, Thy Creator, O Jacob, and thy Fashioner, O Israel, Be not afraid, for I have redeemed thee, I have called on thy name -- thou `art' Mine. When thou passest into waters, I `am' with thee, And into floods, they do not overflow thee, When thou goest into fire, thou art not burnt, And a flame doth not burn against thee. For I -- Jehovah thy God, The Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour, I have appointed Egypt thine atonement, Cush and Seba in thy stead. Since thou wast precious in Mine eyes, Thou wast honoured, and I have loved thee, And I appoint men in thy stead, And peoples instead of thy life. Be not afraid, for I `am' with thee, From the east I bring in thy seed, And from the west I gather thee.
And it cometh to pass, in God's destroying the cities of the circuit, that God remembereth Abraham, and sendeth Lot out of the midst of the overthrow in the overthrowing of the cities in which Lot dwelt.
And Abraham draweth nigh and saith, `Dost Thou also consume righteous with wicked? peradventure there are fifty righteous in the midst of the city; dost Thou also consume, and not bear with the place for the sake of the fifty -- the righteous who `are' in its midst? Far be it from Thee to do according to this thing, to put to death the righteous with the wicked; that it hath been -- as the righteous so the wicked -- far be it from Thee; doth the Judge of all the earth not do justice?' And Jehovah saith, `If I find in Sodom fifty righteous in the midst of the city, then have I borne with all the place for their sake.' And Abraham answereth and saith, `Lo, I pray thee, I have willed to speak unto the Lord, and I -- dust and ashes; peradventure there are lacking five of the fifty righteous -- dost Thou destroy for five the whole of the city?' and He saith, `I destroy `it' not, if I find there forty and five.' And he addeth again to speak unto Him and saith, `Peradventure there are found there forty?' and He saith, `I do `it' not, because of the forty.' And he saith, `Let it not be, I Pray thee, displeasing to the Lord, and I speak: peradventure there are found there thirty?' and He saith, `I do `it' not, if I find there thirty.' And he saith, `Lo, I pray thee, I have willed to speak unto the Lord: peradventure there are found there twenty?' and He saith, `I do not destroy `it', because of the twenty.' And he saith, `Let it not be, I pray Thee, displeasing to the Lord, and I speak only this time: peradventure there are found there ten?' and He saith, `I do not destroy `it', because of the ten.'
And I make thee become a great nation, and bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing.
Be confessing to one another the trespasses, and be praying for one another, that ye may be healed; very strong is a working supplication of a righteous man;
and if any one may will to injure them, fire doth proceed out of their mouth, and doth devour their enemies, and if any one may will to injure them, thus it behoveth him to be killed. These have authority to shut the heaven, that it may not rain rain in the days of their prophecy, and authority they have over the waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the land with every plague, as often as they may will. `And when they may finish their testimony, the beast that is coming up out of the abyss shall make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them,
And he saith unto him, `Lo, I have accepted thy face also for this thing, without overthrowing the city `for' which thou hast spoken; haste, escape thither, for I am not able to do anything till thine entering thither;' therefore hath he calleth the name of the city Zoar.
and the rest, some indeed upon boards, and some upon certain things of the ship; and thus it came to pass that all came safe unto the land.
And when these things were fulfilled, Paul purposed in the Spirit, having gone through Macedonia and Achaia, to go on to Jerusalem, saying -- `After my being there, it behoveth me also to see Rome;'
And the Lord said through a vision in the night to Paul, `Be not afraid, but be speaking and thou mayest be not silent; because I am with thee, and no one shall set on thee to do thee evil; because I have much people in this city;'
and before governors and kings ye shall be brought for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the nations.
And the remnant of Jacob hath been in the midst of many peoples, As dew from Jehovah -- as showers on the herb, That waiteth not for man, nor stayeth for the sons of men.
Be not afraid, for with thee I `am', Look not around, for I `am' thy God, I have strengthened thee, Yea, I have helped thee, yea, I upheld thee, With the right hand of My righteousness. Lo, all those displeased with thee, They are ashamed and blush, They are as nothing, yea, perish Do the men who strive with thee. Thou seekest them, and findest them not, The men who debate with thee, They are as nothing, yea, as nothing, The men who war with thee. For I, Jehovah thy God, Am strengthening thy right hand, He who is saying to thee, `Fear not, I have helped thee.' Fear not, O worm Jacob, ye men of Israel, I helped thee, an affirmation of Jehovah, Even thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
And Elijah saith unto her, `Fear not, go, do according to thy word, only make for me thence a little cake, in the first place, and thou hast brought out to me; and for thee and for thy son make -- last;
And He saith, `I `am' God, God of thy father, be not afraid of going down to Egypt, for for a great nation I set thee there;
And it cometh to pass from the time that he hath appointed him over his house, and over all that he hath, that Jehovah blesseth the house of the Egyptian for Joseph's sake, and the blessing of Jehovah is on all that he hath, in the house, and in the field;
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Acts 27
Commentary on Acts 27 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 27
This whole chapter is taken up with an account of Paul's voyage towards Rome, when he was sent thither a prisoner by Festus the governor, upon his appeal to Caesar.
Act 27:1-11
It does not appear how long it was after Paul's conference with Agrippa that he was sent away for Rome, pursuant to his appeal to Caesar; but it is likely they took the first convenience they could hear of to do it; in the mean time Paul is in the midst of his friends at Caesarea-they comforts to him, and he a blessing to them. But here we are told,
Act 27:12-20
In these verses we have,
Act 27:21-44
We have here the issue of the distress of Paul and his fellow-travellers; they escaped with their lives and that was all, and that was for Paul's sake. We are here told (v. 37) what number there were on board-mariners, merchants, soldiers, prisoners, and other passengers, in all two hundred and seventy-six souls; this is taken notice of to make us the more concerned for them in reading the story, that they were such a considerable number, whose lives were now in the utmost jeopardy, and one Paul among them worth more than all the rest. We left them in despair, giving up themselves for gone. Whether they called every man on his God, as Jonah's mariners did, we are not told; it is well if this laudable practice in a storm was not gone out of fashion and made a jest of. However, Paul among these seamen was not, like Jonah among his, the cause of the storm, but the comforter in the storm, and as much a credit to the profession of an apostle as Jonah was a blemish to the character of a prophet. Now here we have,