27 Bible Verses about Famine

Because the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be on the vines; the labour of the olive shall lie, and the cultivated fields shall yield no food; the sheep shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will joy in the God of my saving health.

Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in the heavens; for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Rejoice ye in that day and leap for joy; for, behold, your reward is great in heaven, for their fathers treated the prophets in the same manner.

When I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight, and ye shall eat and not be satisfied.

Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I break the sustenance of bread in Jerusalem; and they shall eat bread by weight, and with anguish; and they shall drink water by measure, and with terror.

And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the LORD thy God has given thee, in the siege and in the straitness with which thine enemies shall distress thee.

And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and they shall have no one to bury them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters; for I will pour their wickedness upon them.

A third part of thee shall die of pestilence, and shall be consumed with famine in the midst of thee, and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee, and I will scatter a third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them.

And they shall eat up thine harvest and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds; they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees; and thy fenced cities, in which thou dost trust, they shall bring to nothing with the sword.

Caph All her people sought their bread with sadness; they have given all their precious things for food to maintain life; see, O LORD, and consider, for I am become vile.

Therefore my people are gone into captivity because they have no knowledge; their glory died of hunger, and their multitude dried up of thirst.

Koph I called unto my lovers, but they have deceived me; my priests and my elders in the city perished seeking food to maintain their lives.

For wickedness burns as the fire, it shall devour the briers and thorns and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke. Through the wrath of the LORD of the hosts the land is darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire; no man shall spare his brother. And he shall snatch on the right hand and be hungry, and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied; they shall eat each man the flesh of his own arm: read more.
Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh; and they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

And there was a famine in the land, in addition to the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech, king of the Philistines, unto Gerar.

Then there was a famine in the days of David for three consecutive years, and David enquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, It is because of Saul and because of his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites.

And there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was grievous in the land.

And it came to pass after many days that the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, show thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth.

And there was a great famine in Samaria as they besieged it until an ass's head was sold for eighty pieces of silver and the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung for five pieces of silver. And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, a woman cried unto him, saying, Save me, my lord, O king. And he said, If the LORD does not save thee, from where shall I save thee? Out of the threshingfloor, or out of the winepress? read more.
And the king said unto her, What ails thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow. So we boiled my son and ate him. And I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son that we may eat him. But she has hid her son.

And one of them named Agabus stood up and signified by the Spirit that there should be great famine throughout all the world, which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar.

Because the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be on the vines; the labour of the olive shall lie, and the cultivated fields shall yield no food; the sheep shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:

For nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in different places.

Also the seven thin and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years; and the seven empty heads blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of famine.

For nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in different places.

So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there; they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them.

The sword is without, and the pestilence and the famine within; he that is in the field shall die with the sword, and he that is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him.

And there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was grievous in the land.

And in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine prevailed in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land.

And Elijah went to show himself unto Ahab. And there was a severe famine in Samaria.

Then Elijah, the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.

And also I have withheld the rain from you when there were yet three months to the harvest, and I caused it to rain upon one city and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece upon which it did not rain withered.

The word of the LORD that was given to Jeremiah concerning the famine. Judah mourns, and its gates languish; they are black unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up. And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters: they came to the pits and found no water; they returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded and covered their heads. read more.
Because the ground is chapped, for there was no rain in the earth, the plowmen were ashamed, they covered their heads.

The fruit of thy land and all thy labours shall a people which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt only be oppressed and crushed all the days.

and he shall eat the fruit of thy beast and the fruit of thy land until thou art destroyed, which also shall not leave thee either grain, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy cows or flocks of thy sheep until he has destroyed thee.

Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field and shalt gather but little in, for the locust shall consume it.

All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust consume.

Cheth Their visage is blacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets; their skin cleaves to their bones; it is withered; it is dry like a stick.

Our skin became black like an oven because of the terrible famine.

And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat.

And the king said unto her, What ails thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow. So we boiled my son and ate him. And I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son that we may eat him. But she has hid her son.

When I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight, and ye shall eat and not be satisfied.

And if ye walk contrary unto me and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.

And there was a great famine in Samaria as they besieged it until an ass's head was sold for eighty pieces of silver and the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung for five pieces of silver.

He Those that did feed delicately are made desolate in the streets; those that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills.

Cheth Their visage is blacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets; their skin cleaves to their bones; it is withered; it is dry like a stick.

For they shall lack bread and water, and terrorize one another, and faint because of their iniquity.

Therefore thus hath the LORD said concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name which I did not send and that say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land; By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.

And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will give them over as a reproach to all the kingdoms of the earth, as a curse, and as an astonishment, and a hissing, and an affront, unto all the Gentiles where I have driven them:

Also the seven thin and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years; and the seven empty heads blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of famine.

Then Elisha spoke unto the woman, whose son he had restored to life, saying, Arise, and go thou and thine household and sojourn wherever thou canst sojourn; for the LORD has called for a famine which shall come upon the land seven years. Then the woman arose and did as the man of God told her; and she went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years.

If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there; and if we stay here, we shall die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians; if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die.

therefore, thus hath the LORD of the hosts said, Behold, I visit: the young men shall die by the sword; their sons and their daughters shall die by famine:

Then Elijah, the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.

And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go through the land to all the fountains of water and to all the brooks; peradventure we may find herbage to save the horses and mules alive that we not lose all the beasts.

and thou shalt drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.

Arise, go to Zarephath of Zidon, and thou shalt dwell there; behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.

In famine he shall ransom thee from death, and in war from the power of the sword.

to deliver their souls from death and to keep them alive in the famine.

They shall not be ashamed in the evil time, and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.

I smote you with the east wind and with mildew and with hail in all the labours of your hands, yet ye did not turn to me, said the LORD.

I have smitten you with the east wind and with the caterpillar; your many gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees were devoured by the locust; yet ye have never returned unto me, said the LORD.

And in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine prevailed in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land.

And on the ninth of the month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land.

And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the LORD thy God has given thee, in the siege and in the straitness with which thine enemies shall distress thee.

And the king said unto her, What ails thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.

They shall be consumed with hunger and devoured with burning heat and with bitter destruction; I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust.

And the seven years of the abundance that was in the land of Egypt were ended. And the seven years of famine began to come, according as Joseph had said; and the famine was in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. And Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do. read more.
And the famine was over all the face of the earth. Then Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold unto the Egyptians; for the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt.

I will also keep you from all your uncleanness: and I will call to the wheat and will multiply it and lay no famine upon you. I will multiply likewise the fruit of the trees, and the fruit of the fields, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the Gentiles.

And one went out into the field to gather herbs and found a wild vine and gathered his lap full of wild grapes and came and shred them into the pot of pottage, for they knew them not. So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of that pottage, that they cried out and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat it.

Even the hind calved in the field and forsook it, because there was no grass. And the wild asses stood in the high places, they snuffed up the wind like dragons; their eyes failed because there was no grass.

The LORD shall be terrible against them for he will weaken all the gods of the earth; and each one from his place shall worship him, even all the isles of the Gentiles.

The word of the LORD that was given to Jeremiah concerning the famine.

And there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was grievous in the land.

Then there was a famine in the days of David for three consecutive years, and David enquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, It is because of Saul and because of his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites.

And there was no bread in all the land, for the famine was very sore, so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine.

Therefore thus hath the Lord GOD said: How much more if I send my four sore judgments against Jerusalem: the sword, the famine, the evil beast, the pestilence, to cut off out of her man and beast?

And on the ninth of the month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land.

And there was a great famine in Samaria as they besieged it until an ass's head was sold for eighty pieces of silver and the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung for five pieces of silver.

And Elisha returned to Gilgal. Then there was a famine in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him, so he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot and make pottage for the sons of the prophets.

And there was a famine in the land, in addition to the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech, king of the Philistines, unto Gerar.

For nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in different places.

There were also some that said, We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses, that we might buy grain because of the famine.

And there was a great famine in Samaria as they besieged it until an ass's head was sold for eighty pieces of silver and the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung for five pieces of silver.

Behold, the days come, said the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine to the earth, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: and they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.

When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction and which I will send to destroy you, then I will increase the famine upon you and will destroy your sustenance of bread.

Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is lost. The vine has dried up, and the fig tree has perished; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, have withered: therefore joy has withered away from the sons of men. Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the present and the drink offering is taken away from the house of your God.

Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I break the sustenance of bread in Jerusalem; and they shall eat bread by weight, and with anguish; and they shall drink water by measure, and with terror.

Moreover he called for a famine upon the land; he broke the whole staff of bread.

Then Elisha spoke unto the woman, whose son he had restored to life, saying, Arise, and go thou and thine household and sojourn wherever thou canst sojourn; for the LORD has called for a famine which shall come upon the land seven years.

And the seven years of the abundance that was in the land of Egypt were ended. And the seven years of famine began to come, according as Joseph had said; and the famine was in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. And Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do. read more.
And the famine was over all the face of the earth. Then Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold unto the Egyptians; for the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt. And all the earth came into Egypt to buy from Joseph because the famine was so sore in all lands.

For she did not recognize that I gave her the wheat and the wine and the oil and multiplied unto them the silver and the gold, with which they made Baal. Therefore I will return and take away my wheat in the time thereof and my wine in the season thereof and will recover my wool and my flax that I had given to cover her nakedness.

And one of them named Agabus stood up and signified by the Spirit that there should be great famine throughout all the world, which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar.

For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of the hosts, takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread and the whole stay of water,

The seed has rotted under their clods, the storehouses were laid desolate, the barns were destroyed for the wheat is withered.

Now it came to pass in the days when the judges governed that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem of Judah went to sojourn in the fields of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.

I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities and want of bread in all your places: yet ye have not returned unto me, said the LORD.

And one of them named Agabus stood up and signified by the Spirit that there should be great famine throughout all the world, which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar.

Behold, the days come, said the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine to the earth, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:

Because the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be on the vines; the labour of the olive shall lie, and the cultivated fields shall yield no food; the sheep shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will joy in the God of my saving health.

Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in the heavens; for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Rejoice ye in that day and leap for joy; for, behold, your reward is great in heaven, for their fathers treated the prophets in the same manner.

Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field and shalt gather but little in, for the locust shall consume it. Thou shalt plant vineyards and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worms shall eat them. Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy borders, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall fall.

And also I have withheld the rain from you when there were yet three months to the harvest, and I caused it to rain upon one city and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece upon which it did not rain withered. So two or three cities wandered unto one city to drink water, but they were not satisfied, yet ye have not returned unto me, said the LORD. I have smitten you with the east wind and with the caterpillar; your many gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees were devoured by the locust; yet ye have never returned unto me, said the LORD.

When I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight, and ye shall eat and not be satisfied.

And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat.

And I will break the pride of your stronghold, and I will make your heaven as iron and your earth as bronze. And your strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits.

Because the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be on the vines; the labour of the olive shall lie, and the cultivated fields shall yield no food; the sheep shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will joy in the God of my saving health.

Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in the heavens; for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Rejoice ye in that day and leap for joy; for, behold, your reward is great in heaven, for their fathers treated the prophets in the same manner.

Our skin became black like an oven because of the terrible famine.

Therefore thus hath the LORD said concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name which I did not send and that say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land; By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.

These two things are come unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword. Who shall comfort thee?