They sailed over the sea of Cilicia
and then along to Pamphylia,
Then they came to Myra and there
found a ship of Alexandria;
Sailing along to Italy they were told
of coming danger by Paul,
Preferring to hear from the captain they
did not heed Paul at all.
Seeing no sun for many days they came
upon a frightful storm,
Paul breaking his silence reminded them
of what he had warned;
The angel of the Lord whom I fear he
said, tells us not to fear,
“There will be no loss of life,” said
He, “so do be of good cheer.”
Paul must be brought before Caesar;
God a promise had made,
Nothing can change the word of God or
from His will evade;
Paul took charge of the situation and
told them all to take meat,
Fourteen days they had taken nothing
now they needed to eat.
Paul took bread and gave thanks in
the presence of them all,
They took bread and then did eat;
they responded to his call;
There were in that ship over two
hundred and seventy souls,
They were forced to jettison food;
saving lives was their goal.
Finally the ship was run aground; no
way it could be moved,
Halting where two seas had met it was
now stuck in a groove;
They wanted to kill the prisoners
lest any should swim away,
The centurion wanting to save Paul
kept them from that idea.
Those that were able to swim cast
themselves into the surf,
Others used pieces of board and they
too attained dry earth;
And so it had come to pass that they
all escaped safe to land,
It was really by the hand of God not
by the savvy of any man.
Melita was that known island, the
land to which they escaped,
Paul while bending by the fire was
stung by a venomous snake;
The barbarians thought as they saw it
hang from the apostle’s hand,
Though Paul had escaped the sea he
had to be a murderous man.
Paul shook the snake in the fire; it
had done his hand no harm;
The barbarians saw him as a god
possessing abundant charm;
The chief of that same island was a
man by name of Publius,
To all them that were shipwrecked he
had been very courteous.
His father lay sick with a fever for
he had contracted dysentery,
Paul prayed and laid hands upon him
and rid him of his misery;
Many more sufferers on the island
with divers sorts of disease,
Coming to the apostle believing from
their sickness were healed.
Aboard another ship of Alexandria
Paul continued on his cruise,
Again traversing the high seas and
the next stop was Syracuse;
From there they sailed to Rhegium and
on to Puteoli next day,
Spent seven days with the brethren
and then were on their way.
Finally they came to Rome after a
hazardous trip long and hard,
The centurion delivered the prisoners
to the captain of the guard;
Paul was not kept with the others; a
soldier guarded him alone,
The moment that he had long awaited,
Paul had come to Rome.
Calling the chief of the Jews
together he made an appeal to them,
He spoke about his innocence; about
his treatment in Jerusalem;
As a result of this injustice, with
Caesar he sought an audience
But they had received no letters;
there was not a single reference.
On the day they had appointed he had
spoken concerning Jesus,
Both of the Law of Moses and the
prophets, especially Esaias;
He had spoken to them in detail; from
morning until the evening,
Some of them would heed his word but
some did not believe him.
Hearts of them were waxed gross and
ears were dull of hearing,
Rejecting God’s word from the very start
they had no understanding;
With the Gentiles it will be different;
they will listen to the word,
About Jesus’ love and faithfulness,
they will be glad they heard.
When Paul had spoken these words
that’s when they went away,
After reasoning among themselves they
had nothing more to say;
But Paul had continued to preach the
word of God with confidence,
For two whole years he preached given
every available instance.
Stewart Russell © 2013
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