60 Bible Verses about Seafaring

"Zebulun will settle down near the sea shore and become a safe haven for shipping, bordering Sidon."

The tribe of Gilead remained on the other side of the Jordan River. As for the tribe of Dan, why did they stay on board their ships? The tribe of Asher sat by the seashore and remained near its harbors.

Tell Tyre, who lives at the gateway to the Mediterranean Sea, who serves as the international merchant to many coastal districts: "This is what the Lord GOD says: "Tyre, you've been claiming, "I am beauty perfected.' You've set your national boundary in international waters. Your builders made you downright beautiful!"'" "They brought in a ship made with pine planking from Senir, configured with a mast carved from a cedar from Lebanon,read more.
equipped with oars made from oaks from Bashan, with ivory-inlaid cypress wood decking imported from the coastlands of Cypress, with sails made with embroidered Egyptian linen, festooned with blue banners, and with your sun shades made with purple cloth from Cypress. Your sailors were conscripted from Sidon and Arvad, and your officers served aboard as pilots. The wise men and elders from Gebal accompanied you, serving as ship's carpenters. All the maritime navies and their seaman also accompanied you to assist you in doing business internationally."

Now after the population of human beings had increased throughout the earth, and daughters had been born to them, some divine beings noticed how attractive human women were, so they took wives for themselves from a selection that pleased them. So the LORD said, "My Spirit won't remain with human beings forever, because they're truly mortal. Their lifespan will be 120 years."read more.
The Nephilim were on the earth at that time (and also immediately afterward), when those divine beings were having sexual relations with those human women, who gave birth to children for them. These children became the heroes and legendary figures of ancient times. The LORD saw that human evil was growing more and more throughout the earth, with every inclination of people's thoughts becoming only evil on a continuous basis. Then the LORD regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and he was deeply grieved about that. So the LORD said, "I will annihilate these human beings whom I've created from the earth, including people, animals, crawling things, and flying creatures, because I'm grieving that I made them." However, the LORD was pleased with Noah. These are the family records of Noah: Noah was a righteous man. Blameless during his times, Noah communed with God.

Hiram sent his servants to sail with the fleet, since they were expert seamen, and so they accompanied Solomon's servants. They sailed as far as Ophir and brought back 420 talents of gold for Solomon.

Hiram sent Solomon ships and servants who were expert mariners, and they sailed with Solomon's servants to Ophir, where they brought back 450 talents of gold for Solomon.

Ocean-going fleets carried your merchandise." "How filled you were! How glorious you were, at home in the heart of the sea!

Hiram's ships that brought gold from Ophir, also brought from Ophir lots of algum wood and precious stones.

because the king had ships that sailed to Tarshish accompanied by Hiram's servants. Once every three years ships from Tarshish returned, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.

Jehoshaphat had ocean-going vessels from Tarshish sail to Ophir for gold, but they never made it because they were shipwrecked at Ezion-geber. Ahab's son Ahaziah had offered to go. "Let my servants go with your servants in the ships!" he said. But Jehoshaphat was not willing.

Sometime later, King Jehoshaphat of Judah entered into a military alliance with King Ahaziah of Israel, acting wickedly by doing so. He also agreed with King Ahaziah to build ships to sail toward Tarshish, which they built in Ezion-geber. But Dodavahu's son Eliezer from Mareshah prophesied in opposition to Jehoshaphat, "Because you have entered into an alliance with Ahaziah, the LORD has destroyed your efforts." So the ships were destroyed and were never able to sail for Tarshish.

Finally, the LORD will bring you back to Egypt by ship, a place that I said you'd never see again. There you'll try to sell yourselves to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you."

The world's businesses cry and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo anymore cargo of gold, silver, gems, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all articles made of ivory, all articles made of very costly wood, bronze, iron, marble, cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, olive oil, flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, chariots, and slaves (that is, human souls)

Ships under control of Kittim will devastate Asshur and Eber, until they are permanently destroyed."

"When that happens, couriers will go out in ships to terrify Ethiopia in its complacency. Anguish will visit them as it will visit Egypt. Watch out! It's coming!'"

because ships will come against him from the Mediterranean islands. Disheartened, he'll return, incited to vehemence against the holy covenant, and he'll take action. As he returns, he'll show deference to those who abandon the holy covenant.

For the coastlands will look to me, with the ships of Tarshish in the lead, to bring my children from far away, their silver and gold with them, to the name of the LORD your God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he has glorified you.

But Jonah got up and fled from the LORD to Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, secured passage on a ship bound for Tarshish, paid the fare, and boarded, intending to go with the mariners to Tarshish to escape from the LORD.

After getting into a boat, Jesus crossed to the other side and came to his own city.

After they had been sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went to Seleucia and from there sailed to Cyprus.

When Jesus heard this, he left that place and went by boat to a deserted place by himself. The crowds heard of it and followed him on foot from the neighboring towns.

After he sent the crowds away, he got into a boat and went to the region of Magadan.

Jesus told his disciples to have a boat ready for him so that the crowd wouldn't crush him,

Then Paul and his men set sail from Paphos and arrived in Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them and went back to Jerusalem.

From there they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been entrusted to the grace of God for the work they had completed.

The disagreement was so sharp that they parted ways. Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus,

Sailing from Troas, we went straight to Samothrace, the next day to Neapolis,

After staying there for quite a while longer, Paul said goodbye to the brothers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. He had his hair cut in Cenchrea, since he was under a vow.

As he told them goodbye, he said, "I will come back to you again if it is God's will." Then he set sail from Ephesus.

and stayed there for three months. When he was about to sail for Syria, a plot was initiated against him by the Jews, so he decided to go back through Macedonia.

When we had torn ourselves away from those brothers, we sailed straight to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara. There we found a ship going across to Phoenicia, so we went aboard and sailed on. We came in sight of Cyprus, and leaving it on our left, we sailed on to Syria and landed at Tyre because the ship was to unload its cargo there.

When it was decided that we should sail to Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were transferred to a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the emperor's division. After boarding a ship from Adramyttium that was about to sail to the ports on the coast of Asia, we put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, went with us. The next day, we arrived at Sidon, and Julius treated Paul kindly allowing him to visit his friends there and to receive any care he needed. read more.
After putting out from there, we sailed on the sheltered side of Cyprus because the winds were against us. We sailed along the sea off Cilicia and Pamphylia and reached Myra in Lycia. There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship bound for Italy and put us on it. We sailed slowly for a number of days and with difficulty arrived off Cnidus. Then, because the wind was against us, we sailed on the sheltered side of Crete off Cape Salome. Sailing past it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea.

Three months later, we continued our sailing onboard an Alexandrian ship that had spent the winter at the island. It had the Twin Brothers as its figurehead. We stopped at Syracuse and stayed there for three days. Then we weighed anchor and came to Rhegium. A day later, a south wind began to blow, and on the second day we came to Puteoli.

Those who go down to the sea in ships, who work in the great waters, witnessed the works of the LORD his awesome deeds in the ocean's depth. He spoke and stirred up a windstorm that made its waves surge.read more.
The people ascended skyward and descended to the depths, their courage melting away in their peril. They reeled and staggered like a drunkard, as all their wisdom became useless. Yet when they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, the LORD brought them out of their distress. He calmed the storm and its waves quieted down. So they rejoiced that the waves became quiet, and he led them to their desired haven.

Three times I was beaten with a stick, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, and I drifted on the sea for a day and a night.

Jehoshaphat had ocean-going vessels from Tarshish sail to Ophir for gold, but they never made it because they were shipwrecked at Ezion-geber.

But Dodavahu's son Eliezer from Mareshah prophesied in opposition to Jehoshaphat, "Because you have entered into an alliance with Ahaziah, the LORD has destroyed your efforts." So the ships were destroyed and were never able to sail for Tarshish.

But Jonah got up and fled from the LORD to Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, secured passage on a ship bound for Tarshish, paid the fare, and boarded, intending to go with the mariners to Tarshish to escape from the LORD. Then the LORD sent a great wind over the sea, and a severe storm broke out. It seemed as if the ship were about to break up. At this point the mariners became terrified, and each man cried out to his gods. They began to throw the cargo into the sea in order to lighten the vessel. But Jonah had gone down into the vessel's hold, had lain down, and was fast asleep. read more.
So the captain approached him, and told him, "What are you doing asleep? Get up! Call on your gods! Maybe your god will think about us so we won't die!" Meanwhile, each crewman told another, "Come on! Let's cast lots to find out whose fault it is that we're in this trouble." So they cast lots, and the lot indicated Jonah! So they interrogated him: "Tell us, why has this trouble come upon us? What's your occupation? Where'd you come from? What's your home country? What's your nationality?" "I'm a Hebrew," he replied, "and I'm afraid of the LORD God of heaven, who made the sea along with the dry land!" In mounting terror, the men asked him, "What have you done?" The men were aware that he was fleeing from the LORD, because he had admitted this to them. Because the sea was growing more and more stormy, they asked him, "What do we have to do to you so the sea will calm down for us?" Jonah told them, "Pick me up and toss me into the sea. Then the sea will calm down for you, because I know that it's my fault that this mighty storm has come upon you." Even so, the crewmen rowed hard to bring the ship toward dry land, but they were unsuccessful, because the sea was growing more and more stormy. At last they cried out to the LORD, "Please, LORD, do not let us perish because of this man's life, and do not hold us responsible for innocent blood, because you, LORD, have done what pleased you." So they picked up Jonah and tossed him into the sea, and the sea stopped raging.

When Jesus got into the boat, his disciples went with him. Suddenly, a violent storm came up on the sea, so that the boat began to be swamped by the waves. Yet Jesus kept sleeping. They went to him and woke him up. "Lord!" they cried, "Save us! We're going to die!"read more.
He asked them, "Why are you afraid, you who have little faith?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. The men were amazed. "What kind of man is this?" they asked. "Even the winds and the sea obey him!"

That day, when evening had come, he told them, "Let's cross to the other side." So they left the crowd and took him away in a boat without making any special preparations. Other boats were with him. A violent windstorm came up, and the waves began breaking into the boat, so that the boat was rapidly becoming swamped.read more.
But Jesus was in the back of the boat, asleep on a cushion. So they woke him up and asked him, "Teacher, don't you care that we're going to die?" Then he got up, rebuked the wind, and told the sea, "Calm down! Be still!" Then the wind stopped blowing, and there was a great calm. He asked them, "Why are you such cowards? Don't you have any faith yet?" Overcome with fear, they kept saying to one another, "Who is this man? Even the wind and the sea obey him!"

One day, Jesus and his disciples got into a boat. He told them, "Let's cross to the other side of the lake." So they started out. Now as they were sailing, Jesus fell asleep. A violent storm swept over the lake, and they were taking on water and were in great danger. So his disciples went to him, woke him up, and kept telling him, "Master! Master! We're going to die!" He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waves. They stopped, and there was calm.read more.
Then he asked the disciples, "Where's your faith?" Frightened and amazed, they asked one another, "Who is this man? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him!" They landed in the region of the Gerasenes, which is just across the lake from Galilee.

Jesus immediately had the disciples get into a boat and cross to the other side ahead of him, while he sent the crowds away. After dismissing the crowds, he went up on a hillside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone. By this time the boat was in the middle of the sea and was being battered by the waves, because the wind was against them. read more.
Shortly before dawn, Jesus came to them, walking on the sea. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified and cried out, "It's a ghost!" And they screamed in terror. "Have courage!" Jesus immediately told them. "It's me. Stop being afraid!" Peter answered him, "Lord, if it's you, order me to come to you on the water." Jesus said, "Come on!" So Peter got down out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came to Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he was frightened. As he began to sink, he shouted, "Lord, save me!" At once Jesus reached out his hand, caught him, and asked him, "You who have so little faith, why did you doubt?" As they got into the boat, the wind stopped blowing. Then the men in the boat began to worship Jesus, saying, "You certainly are the Son of God!"

Jesus immediately had his disciples get into a boat and cross to Bethsaida ahead of him, while he sent the crowd away. After saying goodbye to them, he went up on a hillside to pray. When evening had come, the boat was in the middle of the sea, while he was alone on the land. read more.
He saw that his disciples were straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn he came to them, walking on the sea. He intended to go up right beside them, but when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and began to scream. All of them saw him and were terrified. Immediately he told them, "Have courage! It's me. Stop being afraid!" Then he got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped blowing. The disciples were utterly astounded, because they didn't understand the significance of the loaves. Instead, their hearts were hardened. When they had crossed over, they came ashore at Gennesaret and anchored the boat.

When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. Darkness had already fallen, and Jesus had not yet come to them. A strong wind was blowing, and the sea was getting rough. read more.
After they had rowed about 25 or 30 stadia, they saw Jesus walking on the sea toward their boat. They became terrified. But he told them, "It is I. Stop being afraid!" So they were glad to take him on board, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.

Much time had been lost, and because navigation had become dangerous and the day of fasting had already past, Paul began to warn those on the ship, "Men, I see that during this voyage there will be hardship and a heavy loss not only of the cargo and ship, but also of our lives." But the centurion was persuaded by the pilot and the owner of the ship and not by what Paul said. read more.
Since the harbor was not a good place to spend the winter, most of the men favored putting out to sea from there on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix and spend the winter there. It is a Cretian harbor that faces southwest and northwest. When a gentle breeze began to blow from the south, they thought they could make it to Phoenix, so they hoisted anchor and began sailing along the shore of Crete. But it was not long before a violent wind (called a northeaster) swept down from the island. The ship was caught so that it couldn't face the wind, and we gave up and were swept along. As we drifted to the sheltered side of a small island called Cauda, we barely managed to secure the ship's lifeboat. The ship's crew pulled it up on deck and used ropes to brace the ship. Fearing that they would hit the large sandbank near Libya, they lowered the sail and drifted along. The next day, because we were being tossed so violently by the storm, they began to throw the cargo overboard. On the third day they threw the ship's equipment overboard with their own hands. For a number of days neither the sun nor the stars were to be seen, and the storm continued to rage until at last all hope of our being saved vanished. After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood among his shipmates and said, "Men, you should have listened to me and not have sailed from Crete. You would have avoided this hardship and damage. But now I urge you to have courage, because there will be no loss of life among you, but only loss of the ship. For just last night an angel of God, to whom I belong and whom I serve, stood by me and said, "Stop being afraid, Paul! You must stand before the emperor. Indeed, God has given to you the lives of everyone who is sailing with you.' So take courage, men, because I trust God that it will turn out just as he told me. However, we will have to run aground on some island." It was the fourteenth night, and we were drifting through the Adriatic Sea, when about midnight the sailors suspected that land was near. After taking soundings, they found the depth to be twenty fathoms. A little later, they took soundings again and found it was fifteen fathoms. Fearing that we might run aground on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and began praying for daylight to come. Meanwhile, the sailors had begun trying to escape from the ship. They lowered the lifeboat into the sea and pretended that they were going to lay out the anchors from the bow. Paul told the centurion and the soldiers, "Unless these men remain onboard, you cannot be saved." Then the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and set it adrift. Right up to daybreak Paul kept urging all of them to eat something. He said, "Today is the fourteenth day that you have been waiting and going without food, not eating anything. So I urge you to eat something, for it will help you survive, since none of you will lose so much as a hair from his head." After he said this, he took some bread, thanked God in front of everyone, broke it, and began to eat. Everyone was encouraged and had something to eat. There were 276 of us on the ship. After they had eaten all they wanted, they began to lighten the ship by dumping its cargo of wheat into the sea. When day came, they didn't recognize the land, but they could see a bay with a beach on which they planned to run the ship ashore, if possible. So they cut the anchors free and left them in the sea. At the same time they untied the ropes that held the steering oars, raised the foresail to the wind, and headed for the beach. But they struck a sandbar and ran the ship aground. The bow stuck and couldn't be moved, while the stern was broken to pieces by the force of the waves. The soldiers' plan was to kill the prisoners to keep them from swimming ashore and escaping, but the centurion wanted to save Paul, so he prevented them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. The rest were to follow, some on planks and others on various pieces of the ship. In this way everyone got to shore safely.

A message concerning Tyre. "Wail, you ships of Tarshish, for Tyre is destroyed and is without house or harbor! From the land of Cyprus it was revealed to them.

against all the ships from Tarshish, and against all their impressive watercraft.

Wail, you ships of Tarshish, because your stronghold is destroyed!"

But there the LORD in majesty will be for us our source of broad rivers and streams, where no galley with oars can go, where no stately ship can sail. For the LORD is our judge, and the LORD is our lawgiver; and the LORD is our king, and it is he who will save us. "Your rigging hangs loose; it cannot reliably hold the mast in its place, and the sail cannot spread out. Then an abundance of spoils will be divided even the lame will carry off plunder.

This is what the LORD says, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "For your sake I will send to Babylon, and bring them all down as fugitives. Now as for the Babylonians, their ringing cry will become lamentation.

But your rowers have brought you into dangerous waters. The east wind has broken you in the heart of the ocean! Your wealth, your products, your merchandise your sailors, your pilots, your tailors, your salesmen, all your mercenaries with you your entire company with you will fall into the midst of the sea on the day when you're overthrown! When your ships' captains cry out, the pasturelands along the coast will cry out!read more.
Everyone who handles an oar will abandon ship, they'll head straight for dry land, and they will cry so loud you won't be able to make yourself heard! How bitterly they'll cry! They'll throw dust on their heads and wallow in ashes. They'll shave their heads bald because of you. They'll dress themselves in sackcloth and weep for you with deep bitterness of heart, with the most pitiful of mourning. In the depth of their despair they'll compose a lament for you. This is what they'll say: "Who is like Tyre? Who is so silent in the midst of the sea?' Your merchandise went out over the oceans to satisfy many nations; with the abundance of your wealth you enriched the kings of the earth. "But now it's your time to be wrecked at the bottom of the sea! Your products and your workers have sunk, and so have you! Everyone who lives by the sea is appalled at your destruction. Their leaders are terrified their faces reflect their fears! Traders circulate among the people, hissing at you. What a horror you've become! Now you will cease to exist forever and ever!"

because all this wealth has been destroyed in a single hour!" Every ship's captain, everyone who traveled by ship, sailors, and everyone who made a living from the sea stood far away. When they saw the smoke rising from the fire that consumed her, they began to cry out, "What city was like that great city?" Then they threw dust on their heads and shouted while crying and mourning: "How terrible, how terrible it is for the great city, where all who had ships at sea became rich from her wealth, because it has been destroyed in a single hour!

Then we will no longer be little children, tossed like waves and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people's trickery, or by clever strategies that would lead us astray.

with faith and a good conscience. By ignoring their consciences, some people have destroyed their faith like a wrecked ship.

That hope, firm and secure like an anchor for our souls, reaches behind the curtain

And look at ships! They are so big that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are steered by a tiny rudder wherever the helmsman directs. In the same way, the tongue is a small part of the body, yet it can boast of great achievements. A huge forest can be set on fire by a little flame.

as when an east wind destroyed the ships of Tarshish.

She is like a seagoing ship that brings her food from far away.

But he must ask in faith, without any doubts, for the one who has doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

who disobeyed long ago in the days of Noah, when God waited patiently while the ark was being built. In it a few, that is, eight persons, were saved by water.