17 Bible Verses about Sea Travel

Alas for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You scour land and sea to make a single convert, and, when he is gained, you make him twice as deserving of the Pit as you are yourselves.

From there they sailed to Antioch--the place where they had been committed to the gracious care of God for the work which they had now finished.

Accordingly we set sail from Troas, and ran before the wind to Samothrace, reaching Neapolis the next day. From there we made our way to Philippi, which is the principal city of that part of Macedonia, and also a Roman Settlement. In that city we spent several days.

Paul remained there some time after this, and then took leave of the Brethren, and sailed to Syria with Priscilla and Aquila, but not before his head had been shaved at Cenchreae, because he was under a vow.

As he took his leave, "I will come back again to you, please God," and then set sail from Ephesus.

While we ourselves sailed from Philippi after the Passover, and joined them five days later at Troas, where we stayed for a week.

We started first, went on board ship, and sailed for Assos, intending to take Paul on board there. This was by his own arrangement, as he intended to go by land himself.

The day after we had sailed from there, we arrived off Chios, touched at Samos the following day, and the next day reached Miletus;

When we had torn ourselves away and had set sail, we ran before the wind to Cos; the next day we came to Rhodes, and from there to Patara, Where we found a ship crossing to Phoenicia, and went on board and set sail. After sighting Cyprus and leaving it on the left, we sailed to Syria, and put into Tyre, where the ship was to discharge her cargo.

After we had made the run from Tyre, we landed at Ptolemais, and exchanged greetings with the Brethren there, and spent a day with them.

We went on board a ship from Adramyttium, which was on the point of sailing to the ports along the coast of Roman Asia, and put to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, went with us. The next day we put in to Sidon, where Julius treated Paul in a friendly manner, and allowed him to go to see his friends and receive their hospitality. Putting to sea again, we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the wind was against us;read more.
And, after crossing the sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we reached Myra in Lycia. There the Roman Officer found an Alexandrian ship on her way to Italy, and put us on board of her. For several days our progress was slow, and it was only with difficulty that we arrived off Cnidus. As the wind was still unfavorable when we came off Cape Salmone, we sailed under the lee of Crete, And with difficulty, by keeping close in shore, we reached a place called 'Fair Havens,' near which was the town of Lasea. This had taken a considerable time, and sailing was already dangerous, for the Fast was already over; and so Paul gave this warning. "My friends," he said, "I see that this voyage will be attended with injury and much damage, not only to the cargo and the ship, but to our own lives also." The Roman Officer, however, was more influenced by the captain and the owner than by what was said by Paul. And, as the harbor was not a suitable one to winter in, the majority were in favor of continuing the voyage, in hope of being able to reach Phoenix, and winter there. Phoenix was a Cretan harbor, open to the north-east and south-east. So, when a light wind sprang up from the south, thinking that they had found their opportunity, they weighed anchor and kept along the coast of Crete, close in shore. But shortly afterwards a hurricane came down on us off the land--a north-easter, as it is called. The ship was caught by it and was unable to keep her head to the wind, so we had to give way and let her drive before it. Running under the lee of a small island called Cauda, we only just managed to secure the ship's boat, And, after hoisting it on board, the men frapped the ship. But, afraid of being driven on to the Syrtis Sands, they lowered the yard, and then drifted. So violently were we tossed about by the storm, that the next day they began throwing the cargo overboard, And, on the following day, threw out the ship's tackle with their own hands. As neither sun nor stars were visible for several days, and, as the gale still continued severe, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned. It was then, when they had gone a long time without food, that Paul came forward, and said: "My friends, you should have listened to me, and not have sailed from Crete and so incurred this injury and damage. Yet, even as things are, I urge you not to lose courage, for there will not be a single life lost among you--only the ship. For last night an angel of the God to whom I belong, and whom I serve, stood by me, and said-- 'Have no fear, Paul; you must appear before the Emperor, and God himself has given you the lives of all your fellow-voyagers.' Therefore, courage, my friends! for I believe God, that everything will happen exactly as I have been told. We shall, however, have to be driven on some island." It was now the fourteenth night of the storm, and we were drifting about in the Adriatic Sea, when, about midnight, the sailors began to suspect that they were drawing near land. So they took soundings, and found twenty fathoms of water. After waiting a little, they took soundings again, and found fifteen fathoms. Then, as they were afraid of our being driven upon some rocky coast, they let go four anchors from the stern, and longed for daylight. The sailors wanted to leave the ship, and had lowered the boat, on pretense of running out anchors from the bows, When Paul said to the Roman Officer and his men: "Unless the sailors remain on board, you cannot be saved." Upon that the soldiers cut the ropes which held the boat, and let her drift away. In the interval before daybreak Paul kept urging them all to take something to eat. "It is a fortnight to-day," he said, "that, owing to your anxiety, you have gone without food, taking nothing. So I urge you to take something to eat; your safety depends upon it, for not one of you will lose even a hair of his head." With these words he took some bread, and, after saying the thanksgiving to God before them all, broke it in pieces, and began to eat; And the men all felt cheered and had something to eat themselves. There were about seventy-six of us on board, all told. After satisfying their hunger, they further lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea. When daylight came, they could not make out what land it was, but, observing a creek in which there was a beach, they consulted as to whether they could run the ship safely into it. Then they cast off, and abandoned the anchors, and at the same time unlashed the gear of the steering oars, hoisted the foresail to the wind, and made for the beach. They got, however, into a kind of channel, and there ran the ship aground. The bows stuck fast and could not be moved, while the stern began breaking up under the strain. The advice of the soldiers was that the prisoners should be killed, for fear that any of them should swim away and make their escape. But the Roman Officer, anxious to save Paul, prevented their carrying out their intention, and ordered that those who could swim should be the first to jump into the sea and try to reach the shore; And that the rest should follow, some on planks, and others on different pieces of the ship. In these various ways every one managed to get safely ashore.

After three months, we set sail in a ship that had wintered in the island. She was an Alexandrian vessel, and had the Twin Sons of Zeus for her figure-head. We put in at Syracuse and stayed there three days, And from there we worked to windward and so got to Rhegium. A day later a south wind sprang up and took us to Puteoli in two days.

Where we found a ship crossing to Phoenicia, and went on board and set sail.

And then said good-bye to one another; after which we went on board, and they returned home.

We went on board a ship from Adramyttium, which was on the point of sailing to the ports along the coast of Roman Asia, and put to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, went with us.

There the Roman Officer found an Alexandrian ship on her way to Italy, and put us on board of her.

After three months, we set sail in a ship that had wintered in the island. She was an Alexandrian vessel, and had the Twin Sons of Zeus for her figure-head.