17 Bible Verses about Famine, Examples Of

And there was a famine in the land. And Abram went down to Egypt to dwell as an alien there, for the famine was severe in the land.

And the seven years of abundance which [were] in the land of Egypt came to an end. And the seven years of famine began to come as Joseph had said. And there was famine in all of the countries, but in the land of Egypt there was food. And when all the land of Egypt was hungry the people cried out to Pharaoh for food. And Pharaoh said to all the land of Egypt, "Go to Joseph; what he says to you, you must do."read more.
And the famine was over the whole land, and Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold [food] to the Egyptians. And the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. And every land came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, for the famine was severe in every land.

And a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan and great affliction, and our fathers could not find food.

And it happened in the days [when] {the judges ruled}, there was a famine in the land, and a man from Bethlehem [of] Judah went {to reside} in the countryside of Moab--he and his wife and his two sons.

There [was] a famine in the days of David [for] three years, year after year. And David {inquired of Yahweh}, and Yahweh said, "The bloodguilt [is] on Saul and on his household, because he killed the Gibeonites."

It happened many days [later] that the word of Yahweh came to Elijah in the third year, saying, "Go, present yourself to Ahab so that I may give rain on the surface of the earth." So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. Now the famine [was] severe in Samaria. Ahab summoned Obadiah who [was] over the house. (Now Obadiah was fearing Yahweh greatly.read more.
It had happened that when Jezebel killed the prophets of Yahweh, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them {by fifties} in the cave and sustained them [with] food and water.) Ahab said to Obadiah, "Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the wadis. Perhaps we may find green grass that we may keep horses and mules alive and that we might not lose any of the animals."

But in truth I say to you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut for three years and six months while a great famine took place over all the land.

So Elisha returned to Gilgal. Now the famine [was] in the land, and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him. He said to his servant, put on the large pot and cook a stew for the sons of the prophets.

There was a great famine in Samaria, and behold, a siege [was] against it, until the head of a donkey [went] for eighty shekels of silver, and one fourth of the measure of the dung of doves [went] for five shekels of silver.

Two [things] here [have] happened to you--who will {show sympathy} for you?-- devastation and destruction, famine and sword--who will comfort you?

And one of them {named} Agabus stood up [and] indicated by the Spirit [that] a great famine was about to come over the whole inhabited earth (which took place in the time of Claudius).

For nation will rise up against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in [various] places.

And there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine which was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, to Gerar.

And a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan and great affliction, and our fathers could not find food. So [when] Jacob heard [there] was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. And on the second [visit] Joseph was made known to his brothers, and the family of Joseph became known to Pharaoh.

It happened after this that Ben-Hadad king of Aram assembled all of his army and marched up and laid siege against Samaria. There was a great famine in Samaria, and behold, a siege [was] against it, until the head of a donkey [went] for eighty shekels of silver, and one fourth of the measure of the dung of doves [went] for five shekels of silver.

[That] which came [as] the word of Yahweh to Jeremiah concerning the matter of the severe drought. "Judah mourns, and her gates languish, they are in mourning on the ground, and the cry of lament of Jerusalem goes up. And their nobles send their servants for water. They come to [the] pits, they find no water. They return [with] their vessels {empty}. They are ashamed, and they are confounded, and they cover their heads.read more.
Because of the ground, [which] is cracked because there was no rain on the ground. [The] farmers are ashamed, they cover their heads. For even [the] doe in the field gives birth and forsakes [her young], because there is no green growth. And wild asses stand on [the] barren heights, they gasp [for] breath like the jackals. Their eyes fail because there is no vegetation."

Elijah the Tishbite from Tishbe of Gilead said to Ahab, "{As Yahweh lives}, the God of Israel before whom I stand, there shall surely not be dew nor rain these years {except by my command}."