Acts 27:42

Murdock Translation

And the soldiers were disposed to slay the prisoners; lest they should resort to swimming, and escape from them.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners so that no one could swim away and escape.

King James Version (1611)
And the souldiers counsel was to kil the prisoners, lest any of them should swimme out, and escape.

King James Version
And the soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out, and escape.

English Standard Version
The soldiers' plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any should swim away and escape.

New American Standard Bible
The soldiers' plan was to kill the prisoners, so that none of them would swim away and escape;

New Century Version
The soldiers decided to kill the prisoners so none of them could swim away and escape.

Amplified Bible
The soldiers' plan was to kill the prisoners, so that none of them would dive overboard and swim [to land] and escape;

New American Standard Bible (1995)
The soldiers' plan was to kill the prisoners, so that none of them would swim away and escape;

Legacy Standard Bible
Now the soldiers' plan was to kill the prisoners, so that none of them would swim away and escape;

Berean Standard Bible
The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners so none of them could swim to freedom.

Contemporary English Version
The soldiers decided to kill the prisoners to keep them from swimming away and escaping.

Complete Jewish Bible
At this point the soldiers' thought was to kill the prisoners, so that none of them would swim off and escape.

Darby Translation
And [the] counsel of the soldiers was that they should kill the prisoners, lest any one should swim off and escape.

Easy-to-Read Version
The soldiers decided to kill the prisoners so that none of the prisoners could swim away and escape.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then the souldiers counsell was to kill the prisoners, least any of them, when he had swomme out, should flee away.

George Lamsa Translation
And the soldiers sought to kill the prisoners, lest some of them should swim away and so escape.

Good News Translation
The soldiers made a plan to kill all the prisoners, in order to keep them from swimming ashore and escaping.

Lexham English Bible
Now the plan of the soldiers was that they would kill the prisoners lest any escape by swimming away,

Literal Translation
And the mind of the soldiers was that they should kill the prisoners, lest any swimming out should escape.

American Standard Version
And the soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out, and escape.

Bible in Basic English
Then the armed men were for putting the prisoners to death, so that no one would get away by swimming.

Hebrew Names Version
The soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners, so that none of them would swim out and escape.

International Standard Version
The soldiers' plan was to kill the prisoners to keep them from swimming ashore and escaping,

Etheridge Translation
And the soldiers would have killed the prisoners, lest they should cast forth to swim, and escape from them;

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the souldiers counsel was to kyll the prysoners, lest any of them, when he had swomme out, should runne away.

English Revised Version
And the soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out, and escape.

World English Bible
The soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners, so that none of them would swim out and escape.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And the counsel of the soldiers was, to kill the prisoners, lest any one should swim away and escape.

Weymouth's New Testament
Now the soldiers recommended that the prisoners should be killed, for fear some one of them might swim ashore and effect his escape.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And counsel of the kniytis was, to sle men that weren in warde, lest ony schulde ascape, whanne he hadde swymmed out.

Update Bible Version
And the soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any [of them] should swim out, and escape.

Webster's Bible Translation
And the soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out, and escape.

New English Translation
Now the soldiers' plan was to kill the prisoners so that none of them would escape by swimming away.

New King James Version
And the soldiers' plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim away and escape.

New Living Translation
The soldiers wanted to kill the prisoners to make sure they didn't swim ashore and escape.

New Life Bible
The soldiers planned to kill the men in chains. They were afraid they would swim to shore and get away,

New Revised Standard
The soldiers' plan was to kill the prisoners, so that none might swim away and escape;

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Now, the soldiers counsel, turned out to be, that they should kill, the prisoners, lest any one should swim out and escape;

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the soldiers’ counsel was that they should kill the prisoners, lest any of them, swimming out should escape.

Revised Standard Version
The soldiers' plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any should swim away and escape;

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
The soudears counsell was to kyll ye presoners lest eny of them when he had swome out shulde fle awaye.

Young's Literal Translation
And the soldiers' counsel was that they should kill the prisoners, lest any one having swam out should escape,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The soudyers councell was to kyll ye presoners, lest eny of them whan he had swymmed out, shulde flye awaye.

Mace New Testament (1729)
the soldiers propos'd to dispatch the prisoners, for fear any of them should swim for their lives; but the centurion,

THE MESSAGE
The soldiers decided to kill the prisoners so none could escape by swimming, but the centurion, determined to save Paul, stopped them. He gave orders for anyone who could swim to dive in and go for it, and for the rest to grab a plank. Everyone made it to shore safely.

Simplified Cowboy Version
The soldiers were just going to kill all the prisoners to keep them from escaping,

Contextual Overview

²¹ And as no one had taken a meal of food, Paul now stood up in the midst of them, and said: If ye had given heed to me, O men, we should not have sailed from Crete, and we should have been exempt from this loss and peril. ²² And now, I counsel you to be without anxiety; for not a soul of you will be lost, but only the ship. ²³ For there appeared to me this night, the angel of that God whose I am, and whom I serve; ²⁴ and he said to me: Fear not, Paul; for thou art yet to stand before Caesar; and, lo, God hath made a gift to thee of all them that sail with thee. ²⁵ Therefore, men, be ye courageous; for I confide in God, that it will be as was told to me. ²⁶ Yet we are to be cast upon a certain island. ²⁷ And after the fourteen days of our roaming and tossing on the Adriatic sea, at midnight, the sailors conceived that they approached land. ²⁸ And they cast the lead, and found twenty fathoms. And again they advanced a little, and they found fifteen fathoms. ²⁹ And as we feared lest we should be caught in places where were rocks, they cast four anchors from the stern of the ship, and prayed for the morning. ³⁰ And the sailors sought to flee out of the ship. And from it they lowered down the boat into the sea, under pretence that they were going in it to make fast the ship to the land.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Psalms 74:20, Proverbs 12:10, Ecclesiastes 9:3, Mark 15:15-20, Luke 23:40, Luke 23:41

Reciprocal: Acts 26:17 - Delivering Acts 27:31 - said 1 Peter 4:18 - if

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners,.... Paul, and the rest: this they had not only an inclination to, but they declared it, and gave it as their opinion, and what they thought advisable to be done directly:

lest any of them should swim out and escape; and they should be accountable for them: but this was dreadful wickedness in them to seek to take away the lives of others, when they themselves were in so much danger; and monstrous ingratitude to the Apostle Paul, who had been so much concerned for their lives, and careful of them, and had been the means of saving them, and for whose sake they were saved: the devil must have had a great hand in this.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And the soldiers’ counsel ... - Why they gave this advice is not known. It was probably, however, because the Roman military discipline was very strict, and if they escaped it would be charged on them that it had been done by the negligence and unfaithfulness of the soldiers. They therefore proposed to kill them, though contrary to all humanity, justice, and laws; presuming, probably, that it would be supposed that they had perished in the wreck. This is a remarkable proof that people can be cruel even when experiencing the tender mercy of God, and that the most affecting scenes of divine goodness will not mitigate the natural ferocity and cruelty of those who delight in blood.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 42. The soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners — What blood-thirsty, cowardly villains must these have been! Though, through the providence of God, those poor men had escaped a watery grave, and had borne all the anxiety and distresses of this disastrous voyage, as well as the others, now that there is a likelihood of all getting safe to land that could swim, lest these should swim to shore, and so escape, those men, whose trade was in human blood, desired to have them massacred! We have not many traits in the histories of the most barbarous nations that can be a proper counterpart to this quintessence of humano-diabolic cruelty.