59 Bible Verses about Seafaring

The resting-place of Zebulun will be by the sea, and he will be a harbour for ships; the edge of his land will be by Zidon.

Gilead was living over Jordan; and Dan was waiting in his ships; Asher kept in his place by the sea's edge, living by his inlets.

And say to Tyre, O you who are seated at the doorway of the sea, trading for the peoples with the great sea-lands, these are the words of the Lord: You, O Tyre, have said, I am a ship completely beautiful. Your builders have made your outlines in the heart of the seas, they have made you completely beautiful. They have made all your boards of fir-trees from Senir: they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make the supports for your sails.read more.
Of oak-trees from Bashan they have made your driving blades; they have made your floors of ivory and boxwood from the sea-lands of Kittim. The best linen with needlework from Egypt was your sail, stretched out to be a flag for you; blue and purple from the sea-lands of Elishah gave you shade. The people of Zidon and Arvad were your boatmen; the wise men of Zemer were in you; they were guiding your ships; The responsible men of Gebal and its wise men were in you, making your boards watertight: all the ships of the sea with their seamen were in you trading in your goods.

And after a time, when men were increasing on the earth, and had daughters, The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair; and they took wives for themselves from those who were pleasing to them. And the Lord said, My spirit will not be in man for ever, for he is only flesh; so the days of his life will be a hundred and twenty years.read more.
There were men of great strength and size on the earth in those days; and after that, when the sons of God had connection with the daughters of men, they gave birth to children: these were the great men of old days, the men of great name. And the Lord saw that the sin of man was great on the earth, and that all the thoughts of his heart were evil. And the Lord had sorrow because he had made man on the earth, and grief was in his heart. And the Lord said, I will take away man, whom I have made, from the face of the earth, even man and beast and that which goes on the earth and every bird of the air; for I have sorrow for having made them. But Noah had grace in the eyes of God. These are the generations of Noah. Noah was an upright man and without sin in his generation: he went in the ways of God.

Hiram sent his servants, who were experienced seamen, in the sea-force with Solomon's men. And they came to Ophir, where they got four hundred and twenty talents of gold, and took it back to King Solomon.

And Huram sent him, by his servants, ships and experienced seamen, who went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir and came back with four hundred and fifty talents of gold, which they took to King Solomon.

Tarshish ships did business for you in your goods: and you were made full, and great was your glory in the heart of the seas.

And the sea-force of Hiram, in addition to gold from Ophir, came back with much sandal-wood and jewels.

For the king had Tarshish-ships sailing with the servants of Huram: once every three years the Tarshish-ships came back with gold and silver, ivory and monkeys and peacocks.

And the representative of King Jehoshaphat made a Tarshish-ship to go to Ophir for gold, but it did not go, because it was broken at Ezion-geber. Then Ahaziah, the son of Ahab, said to Jehoshaphat, Let my men go with yours in the ships. But Jehoshaphat would not let them.

After this Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, became friends with Ahaziah, king of Israel, who did much evil: Together they made ships to go to Tarshish, building them in Ezion-geber. Then the word of Eliezer the prophet, the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah, came against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because you have let yourself be joined with Ahaziah, the Lord has sent destruction on your works. And the ships were broken and were not able to go to Tarshish.

And the Lord will take you back to Egypt again in ships, by the way of which I said to you, You will never see it again: there you will be offering yourselves as men-servants and women-servants to your haters for a price, and no man will take you.

And the traders of the earth are weeping and crying over her, because no man has any more desire for their goods, Gold, and silver, and stones of great price, and jewels, and delicate linen, and robes of purple and silk and red; and perfumed wood, and every vessel of ivory, and every vessel made of fair wood, and of brass, and iron, and stone; And sweet-smelling plants, and perfumes, and wine, and oil, and well crushed grain, and cattle and sheep; and horses and carriages and servants; and souls of men.

But ships will come from the direction of Kittim, troubling Asshur and troubling Eber, and like the others their fate will be destruction.

In that day men will go out quickly to take the news, causing fear in untroubled Ethiopia; and bitter pain will come on them as in the day of Egypt; for see, it is coming.

For those who go out from the west will come against him, and he will be in fear and will go back, full of wrath against the holy agreement; and he will do his pleasure: and he will go back and be united with those who have given up the holy agreement.

Vessels of the sea-lands are waiting for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, so that your sons may come from far, and their silver and gold with them, to the place of the name of the Lord your God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he has made you beautiful.

And Jonah got up to go in flight to Tarshish, away from the Lord; and he went down to Joppa, and saw there a ship going to Tarshish: so he gave them the price of the journey and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish, away from the Lord.

And he got into a boat and went across and came to his town.

So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia; and from there they went by ship to Cyprus.

Now when it came to the ears of Jesus, he went away from there in a boat, to a waste place by himself: and the people hearing of it, went after him on foot from the towns.

And when he had sent the people away, he got into the boat, and came into the country of Magadan.

And he made a request to his disciples to have a little boat ready for him, so that he might not be crushed by the people;

Then Paul and those who were with him went by ship from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia: and there John went away from them and came back to Jerusalem.

And from there they went by ship to Antioch, where they had been handed over to the grace of God for the work which they had not done.

And there was a sharp argument between them, so that they were parted from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and went by ship to Cyprus;

So, from Troas we went straight by ship to Samothrace and the day after to Neapolis;

And Paul, after waiting some days, went away from the brothers and went by ship to Syria, Priscilla and Aquila being with him; and he had had his hair cut off in Cenchrea, for he had taken an oath.

And went from them, saying, I will come back to you if God lets me; and he took ship from Ephesus.

And when he had been there three months, because the Jews had made a secret design against him when he was about to take ship for Syria, he made a decision to go back through Macedonia.

And after parting from them, we put out to sea and came straight to Cos, and the day after to Rhodes, and from there to Patara: And as there was a ship going to Phoenicia, we went in it. And when we had come in view of Cyprus, going past it on our left, we went on to Syria, and came to land at Tyre: for there the goods which were in the ship had to be taken out.

And when the decision had been made that we were to go by sea to Italy, they gave Paul and certain other prisoners into the care of a captain named Julius, of the Augustan band. And we went to sea in a ship of Adramyttium which was sailing to the sea towns of Asia, Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us. And on the day after, we came to Sidon; and Julius was kind to Paul, and let him go to see his friends and take a rest.read more.
And sailing again from there, we went on under cover of Cyprus, because the wind was against us. And having gone across the sea off Cilicia and Pamphylia we came to Myra, in Lycia. And there the captain came across a ship of Alexandria, sailing for Italy, and put us in it. And when we had gone on slowly for a long time, and had had hard work getting across to Cnidus, for the wind was against us, we went under cover of Crete, in the direction of Salmone; And sailing down the side of it, as well as we were able, we came to a certain place named Fair Havens, near which was the town of Lasea.

And after three months we went to sea in a ship of Alexandria sailing under the sign of the Dioscuri, which had been at the island for the winter. And going into the harbour at Syracuse, we were waiting there for three days. And from there, going about in a curve, we came to Rhegium: and after one day a south wind came up and on the day after we came to Puteoli:

Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business in the great waters; They see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep. For at his word comes up the storm-wind, lifting high the waves.read more.
The sailors go up to heaven, and down into the deep; their souls are wasted because of their trouble. They are turned here and there, rolling like a man who is full of wine; and all their wisdom comes to nothing. Then they send up their cry to the Lord in their sorrow, and he gives them salvation out of all their troubles. He makes the storm into a calm, so that the waves are at peace. Then they are glad, because the sea is quiet, and he takes them to the harbour of their desire.

Three times I was whipped with rods, once I was stoned, three times the ship I was in came to destruction at sea, a night and a day I have been in the water;

And the representative of King Jehoshaphat made a Tarshish-ship to go to Ophir for gold, but it did not go, because it was broken at Ezion-geber.

Then the word of Eliezer the prophet, the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah, came against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because you have let yourself be joined with Ahaziah, the Lord has sent destruction on your works. And the ships were broken and were not able to go to Tarshish.

And Jonah got up to go in flight to Tarshish, away from the Lord; and he went down to Joppa, and saw there a ship going to Tarshish: so he gave them the price of the journey and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish, away from the Lord. And the Lord sent out a great wind on to the sea and there was a violent storm in the sea, so that the ship seemed in danger of being broken. Then the sailors were full of fear, every man crying to his god; and the goods in the ship were dropped out into the sea to make the weight less. But Jonah had gone down into the inmost part of the ship where he was stretched out in a deep sleep.read more.
And the ship's captain came to him and said to him, What are you doing sleeping? Up! say a prayer to your God, if by chance God will give a thought to us, so that we may not come to destruction. And they said to one another, Come, let us put this to the decision of chance and see on whose account this evil has come on us. So they did so, and Jonah was seen to be the man. Then they said to him, Now make clear to us what is your work, and where you come from? what is your country, and who are your people? And he said to them, I am a Hebrew, a worshipper of the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land. And the men were in great fear, and they said to him, What is this you have done? For the men had knowledge of his flight from the Lord because he had not kept it from them. And they said to him, What are we to do to you so that the sea may become calm for us? For the sea was getting rougher and rougher. And he said to them, Take me up and put me into the sea, and the sea will become calm for you: for I am certain that because of me this great storm has come on you. And the men were working hard to get back to the land, but they were not able to do so: for the sea got rougher and rougher against them. So, crying to the Lord, they said, Give ear to our prayer, O Lord, give ear, and do not let destruction overtake us because of this man's life; do not put on us the sin of taking life without cause: for you, O Lord, have done what seemed good to you. So they took Jonah up and put him into the sea: and the sea was no longer angry.

And when he had got into a boat, his disciples went after him. And there came up a great storm in the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves: but he was sleeping. And they came to him, and, awaking him, said, Help, Lord; destruction is near.read more.
And he said to them, Why are you full of fear, O you of little faith? Then he got up and gave orders to the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. And the men were full of wonder, saying, What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea do his orders?

And on that day, when the evening had come, he said to them, Let us go over to the other side. And going away from the people, they took him with them, as he was, in the boat. And other boats were with him. And a great storm of wind came up, and the waves came into the boat, so that the boat was now becoming full.read more.
And he himself was in the back of the boat, sleeping on the cushion: and they, awaking him, said, Master, is it nothing to you that we are in danger of destruction? And he came out of his sleep, and gave strong orders to the wind, and said to the sea, Peace, be at rest. And the wind went down, and there was a great calm. And he said to them, Why are you full of fear? have you still no faith? And their fear was great, and they said one to another, Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea do his orders?

Now it came about on one of those days that he got into a boat with his disciples; and he said to them, Let us go over to the other side of the water: and they put out the boat. But while they were sailing he went to sleep: and a storm of wind came down on the sea, and the boat became full of water and they were in danger. Then they came to him and, awaking him out of his sleep, said, Master, Master, destruction is near. And he, when he was awake, gave orders to the wind and the rolling waves, and the storm came to an end, and all was calm.read more.
And he said to them, Where is your faith? And fear and wonder overcame them, and they said to one another, Who then is this, who gives orders even to the winds and the water and they do what he says? And they came to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee.

And straight away he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, till he had sent the people away. And after he had sent the people away, he went up into the mountain by himself for prayer: and when evening was come, he was there by himself. But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, and was troubled by the waves: for the wind was against them.read more.
And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. And when they saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they gave cries of fear. But straight away Jesus said to them, Take heart; it is I, have no fear. And Peter, answering, said to him, Lord, if it is you, give me the order to come to you on the water. And he said, Come. And Peter got out of the boat, and walking on the water, went to Jesus. But when he saw the wind he was in fear and, starting to go down, he gave a cry, saying, Help, Lord. And straight away Jesus put out his hand and took a grip of him, and said to him, O man of little faith, why were you in doubt? And when they had got into the boat, the wind went down. And those who were in the boat gave him worship, saying, Truly you are the Son of God.

And straight away he made his disciples get into the boat, and go before him to the other side to Beth-saida, while he himself sent the people away. And after he had sent them away, he went up into a mountain for prayer. And by evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and he by himself on the land.read more.
And seeing that they had trouble in getting their boat through the water, because the wind was against them, about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea; and he would have gone past them; But they, when they saw him walking on the sea, took him for a spirit, and gave a loud cry: For they all saw him, and were troubled. But straight away he said to them, Take heart, it is I, have no fear. And he went to them into the boat, and the wind went down, and they were full of wonder in themselves; For it was not clear to them about the bread; but their hearts were hard. And when they had gone across, they came to Gennesaret, and got their boat to land.

When evening came the disciples went down to the sea; And they took a boat and went across the sea in the direction of Capernaum. By then it was dark and still Jesus had not come to them. The sea was getting rough because of a strong wind which was blowing.read more.
After they had gone three or four miles they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near to the boat; and they had great fear. But he said to them, It is I, have no fear. Then they readily took him into the boat: and straight away the boat was at the land to which they were going.

And as a long time had gone by, and the journey was now full of danger, because it was late in the year, Paul put the position before them, Saying, Friends, I see that this journey will be one of great damage and loss, not only to the goods and the ship, but to ourselves. But the captain gave more attention to the master and the owner of the ship than to what Paul said.read more.
And as the harbour was not a good one in which to be for the winter, the greater number of them were for going out to sea, in order, if possible, to put in for the winter at Phoenix, a harbour of Crete, looking to the north-east and south-east. And when the south wind came softly, being of the opinion that their purpose might be effected, they let the ship go and went sailing down the side of Crete, very near to the land. But after a little time, a very violent wind, named Euraquilo, came down from it with great force. And when the ship got into the grip of it, and was not able to make headway into the wind, we gave way, and went before it. And, sailing near the side of a small island named Cauda, we were able, though it was hard work, to make the ship's boat safe: And having got it up, they put cords under and round the ship; but fearing that they might be pushed on to the Syrtis, they let down the sails and so went running before the wind. And, still fighting the storm with all our strength, the day after they made a start at getting the goods out of the ship; And on the third day, they let all the sailing apparatus go over the side. And as we had not seen the sun or stars for a long time, and a great storm was on us, all hope of salvation was gone. And when they had been without food for a long time, Paul got up among them and said, Friends, it would have been better if you had given attention to me and not gone sailing out from Crete, to undergo this damage and loss. But now, I say to you, be of good heart, for there will be no loss of life, but only of the ship. For this night there came to my side an angel of the God who is my Master and whose servant I am, Saying, Have no fear, Paul, for you will come before Caesar, and God has given to you all those who are sailing with you. And so, O men, be of good heart, for I have faith in God that it will be as he said to me. But we will be sent on to a certain island. But when the fourteenth day came, while we were going here and there in the Adriatic sea, about the middle of the night the sailors had an idea that they were getting near land; And they let down the lead, and saw that the sea was a hundred and twenty feet deep; and after a little time they did it again and it was ninety feet. Then, fearing that by chance we might come on to the rocks, they let down four hooks from the back of the ship, and made prayers for the coming of day. Then the sailors made attempts secretly to get away from the ship, letting down a boat as if they were about to put down hooks from the front of the ship; But Paul said to the captain and his men, If you do not keep these men in the ship, you will not be safe. Then the armed men, cutting the cords of the boat, let her go. And when dawn was near, Paul gave them all orders to take food, saying, This is the fourteenth day you have been waiting and taking no food. So I make request to you to take food; for this is for your salvation: not a hair from the head of any of you will come to destruction. And when he had said this and had taken bread, he gave praise to God before them all, and took a meal of the broken bread. Then they all took heart and did the same. And we were, in the ship, two hundred and seventy-six persons. And when they had had enough food, they made the weight of the ship less, turning the grain out into the sea. And when it was day, they had no knowledge of the land, but they saw an inlet of the sea with a floor of sand, and they had the idea of driving the ship up on to it if possible. So cutting away the hooks, and letting them go into the sea, and freeing the cords of the guiding-blades, and lifting up the sail to the wind, they went in the direction of the inlet. And coming to a point between two seas, they got the ship to land; and the front part was fixed in the sand and not able to be moved, but the back part was broken by the force of the waves. Then the armed men were for putting the prisoners to death, so that no one would get away by swimming. But the captain, desiring to keep Paul safe, kept them from their purpose, and gave orders that those who had knowledge of swimming were to go off the ship and get first to land: And the rest, some on boards and some on things from the ship. And so it came about that they all got safe to land.

The word about Tyre. Let a cry of sorrow go up, O ships of Tarshish, because your strong place is made waste; on the way back from the land of Kittim the news is given to them.

And on all the ships of Tarshish, and on all the fair boats.

Let a cry of sorrow go up, O ships of Tarshish: because your strong place is made waste

But there the Lord will be with us in his glory, ... wide rivers and streams; where no boat will go with blades, and no fair ship will be sailing. For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our law-giver, the Lord is our king; he will be our saviour. Your cords have become loose; they were not able to make strong the support of their sails, the sail was not stretched out: then the blind will take much property, the feeble-footed will make division of the goods of war.

The Lord, who has taken up your cause, the Holy One of Israel, says, Because of you I have sent to Babylon, and made all their seers come south, and the Chaldaeans whose cry is in the ships.

Your boatmen have taken you into great waters: you have been broken by the east wind in the heart of the seas. Your wealth and your goods, the things in which you do trade, your seamen and those guiding your ships, those who make your boards watertight, and those who do business with your goods, and all your men of war who are in you, with all who have come together in you, will go down into the heart of the seas in the day of your downfall. At the sound of the cry of your ships' guides, the boards of the ship will be shaking.read more.
And all the boatmen, the seamen and those who are expert at guiding a ship through the sea, will come down from their ships and take their places on the land; And their voices will be sounding over you, and crying bitterly they will put dust on their heads, rolling themselves in the dust: And they will have the hair of their heads cut off because of you, and will put haircloth on their bodies, weeping for you with bitter grief in their souls, even with bitter sorrow. And in their weeping they will make a song of grief for you, sorrowing over you and saying, Who is like Tyre, who has come to an end in the deep sea? When your goods went out over the seas, you made numbers of peoples full; the wealth of the kings of the earth was increased with your great wealth and all your goods. Now that you are broken by the seas in the deep waters, your goods and all your people will go down with you. All the people of the sea-lands are overcome with wonder at you, and their kings are full of fear, their faces are troubled. Those who do business among the peoples make sounds of surprise at you; you have become a thing of fear, you have come to an end for ever.

For in one hour such great wealth has come to nothing. And every shipmaster, and all who are sailing on the sea, and sailors and all who get their living by the sea, were watching from far away, And crying out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What town is like the great town? And they put dust on their heads, and were sad, weeping and crying, and saying, Sorrow, sorrow for the great town, in which was increased the wealth of all who had their ships on the sea because of her great stores! for in one hour she is made waste.

So that we may be no longer children, sent this way and that, turned about by every wind of teaching, by the twisting and tricks of men, by the deceits of error;

Keeping faith, and being conscious of well-doing; for some, by not doing these things, have gone wrong in relation to the faith:

And this hope is like a strong band for our souls, fixed and certain, and going in to that which is inside the veil;

And again ships, though they are so great and are moved by violent winds, are turned by a very small guiding-blade, at the impulse of the man who is using it. Even so the tongue is a small part of the body, but it takes credit for great things. How much wood may be lighted by a very little fire!

She is like the trading-ships, getting food from far away.

Let him make his request in faith, doubting nothing; for he who has doubt in his heart is like the waves of the sea, which are troubled by the driving of the wind.

Who, in the days of Noah, went against God's orders; but God in his mercy kept back the punishment, while Noah got ready the ark, in which a small number, that is to say eight persons, got salvation through water: