19 Bible Verses about Pestilence

Most Relevant Verses

Psalm 91:6


Nor of the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
Nor of the destruction (sudden death) that lays waste at noon.

Jeremiah 42:17

So all the men who set their mind to go to Egypt to reside there [temporarily] will die by the sword, by famine and by virulent disease; none of them will remain or survive the disaster that I am going to bring on them.”’”

Ezekiel 7:15

The sword is outside and virulent disease and famine are within. He who is in the field will die by the sword, and famine and disease will devour those in the city.

Ezekiel 14:19

Or if I should send a virulent disease into that land and pour out My wrath in blood on it to cut off man and animal from it,

Ezekiel 14:21

For thus says the Lord God, “How much more when I send My four severe judgments against Jerusalem—sword, famine, predatory beasts, and virulent disease—to cut off man and animal from it!

Habakkuk 3:5


Before Him goes the pestilence [of judgment as in Egypt],
And [the burning] plague [of condemnation] follows at His feet [as in Sennacherib’s army].

Leviticus 26:25

I will bring a sword on you that will execute vengeance for [breaking] the covenant; and when you gather together in your cities, I will send pestilence (virulent disease) among you, and you shall be handed over to the enemy.

Numbers 14:12

I will strike them with the pestilence (plague) and dispossess them, and will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they.”

Deuteronomy 28:21

The Lord will make the pestilence and plague cling to you until He has consumed and eliminated you from the land which you are entering to possess.

Jeremiah 14:12

Though they fast, I will not hear their cry; and though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them [because they are done as obligations, and not as acts of loving obedience]. Instead I will consume them by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.”

Jeremiah 21:6

I will also strike the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; they will die of a great virulent disease.

Jeremiah 27:13

Why will you die, you and your people, by the sword, by famine and by virulent disease, as the Lord has spoken to any nation which will not serve the king of Babylon?

Ezekiel 5:12

One third of you will die of virulent disease or be consumed by famine among you; one third will fall by the sword around you; and one third I will scatter to all the winds, and I will unsheathe a sword behind them.

Ezekiel 6:11

“Thus says the Lord God, ‘Strike with your fist, stamp with your foot and say, “Alas, because of all the evil atrocities of the house of Israel, which will fall by sword, by famine, and by virulent disease!

2 Samuel 24:15

So the Lord sent a pestilence (plague) [lasting three days] upon Israel from the morning until the appointed time, and seventy thousand men of the people from Dan to Beersheba died.

Psalm 78:50


He leveled a path for His anger [to give it free run];
He did not spare their souls from death,
But turned over their lives to the plague.

Amos 4:10


“I sent a plague among you like [those of] Egypt;
I killed your young men with the sword and I captured your horses,
I made the stench of your camp rise up into your nostrils;
Yet you have not returned to Me [in repentance],” says the Lord.

From Thematic Bible


God's Judgments » Pestilence » Sent

2 Samuel 24:15

So the Lord sent a pestilence (plague) [lasting three days] upon Israel from the morning until the appointed time, and seventy thousand men of the people from Dan to Beersheba died.

Psalm 78:50


He leveled a path for His anger [to give it free run];
He did not spare their souls from death,
But turned over their lives to the plague.

Amos 4:10


“I sent a plague among you like [those of] Egypt;
I killed your young men with the sword and I captured your horses,
I made the stench of your camp rise up into your nostrils;
Yet you have not returned to Me [in repentance],” says the Lord.

Judgments » Different kinds of » Pestilence

Deuteronomy 28:21-22

The Lord will make the pestilence cling to you until He has consumed you from the land into which you go to possess. The Lord will smite you with consumption, with fever and inflammation, fiery heat, sword and drought, blasting and mildew; they shall pursue you until you perish.

Pestilence » Who the lord sends pestilence upon

Leviticus 26:13-25

I am the Lord your God, Who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that you should no more be slaves; and I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect [as free men]. But if you will not hearken to Me and will not do all these commandments, And if you spurn and despise My statutes, and if your soul despises and rejects My ordinances, so that you will not do all My commandments, but break My covenant, read more.
I will do this: I will appoint over you [sudden] terror (trembling, trouble), even consumption and fever that consume and waste the eyes and make the [physical] life pine away. You shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. I [the Lord] will set My face against you and you shall be defeated and slain before your enemies; they who hate you shall rule over you; you shall flee when no one pursues you. And if in spite of all this you still will not listen and be obedient to Me, then I will chastise and discipline you seven times more for your sins. And I will break and humble your pride in your power, and I will make your heavens as iron [yielding no answer, no blessing, no rain] and your earth [as sterile] as brass. And your strength shall be spent in vain, for your land shall not yield its increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruit. If you walk contrary to Me and will not heed Me, I will bring seven times more plagues upon you, according to your sins. I will loose the wild beasts of the field among you, which shall rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and make you few so that your roads shall be deserted and desolate. If by these means you are not turned to Me but determine to walk contrary to Me, I also will walk contrary to you, and I will smite you seven times for your sins. And I will bring a sword upon you that shall execute the vengeance [for the breaking] of My covenant; and you shall be gathered together within your cities, and I will send the pestilence among you, and you shall be delivered into the hands of the enemy.

Deuteronomy 28:15-21

But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God, being watchful to do all His commandments and His statutes which I command you this day, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you: Cursed shall you be in the city and cursed shall you be in the field. Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading trough. read more.
Cursed shall be the fruit of your body, of your land, of the increase of your cattle and the young of your sheep. Cursed shall you be when you come in and cursed shall you be when you go out. The Lord shall send you curses, confusion, and rebuke in every enterprise to which you set your hand, until you are destroyed, perishing quickly because of the evil of your doings by which you have forsaken me [Moses and God as one]. The Lord will make the pestilence cling to you until He has consumed you from the land into which you go to possess.

Jeremiah 24:1-10

After Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile Jeconiah [also called Coniah and Jehoiachin] son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and the princes of Judah, with the craftsmen and smiths from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me [in a vision] two baskets of figs set before the temple of the Lord. One basket had very good figs, like the figs that are first ripe; but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. Then the Lord said to me, What do you see, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs -- "the good figs very good, and the bad very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten. read more.
Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so will I regard the captives of Judah whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good. For I will set My eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land; and I will build them up and not pull them down, and I will plant them and not pluck them up. And I will give them a heart to know (recognize, understand, and be acquainted with) Me, that I am the Lord; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart. And as for the bad figs, which are so bad that they cannot be eaten, surely thus says the Lord, So will I give up Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes and the residue of Jerusalem who remains in this land and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. I will even give them up to be a dismay and a horror and to be tossed to and fro among all the kingdoms of the earth for evil, to be a reproach, a byword or proverb, a taunt, and a curse in all places where I will drive them. And I will send the sword, famine, and pestilence among them until they are consumed from off the land that I gave to them and to their fathers.

Amos 4:9-10

I smote you with blight [from the poisonous east wind] and with mildew; I laid waste the multitude of your gardens and your vineyards; your fig trees and your olive trees the palmerworm [a form of locust] devoured; yet you did not return to Me, says the Lord. I have sent among you the pestilence [which I made] epidemic in Egypt; your young men I slew with the sword and I took into exile your horses, and I made the stench of your camp come up into your nostrils; yet you did not return to Me, says the Lord.

Pestilence » There being pestilences prior to the coming of the lord

Matthew 24:1-7

Jesus departed from the temple area and was going on His way when His disciples came up to Him to call His attention to the buildings of the temple and point them out to Him. But He answered them, Do you see all these? Truly I tell you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down. While He was seated on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately and said, Tell us, when will this take place, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end (the completion, the consummation) of the age? read more.
Jesus answered them, Be careful that no one misleads you [deceiving you and leading you into error]. For many will come in (on the strength of) My name [ appropriating the name which belongs to Me], saying, I am the Christ (the Messiah), and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not frightened or troubled, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in place after place;

Mark 13:1-8

And as [Jesus] was coming out of the temple [ area], one of His disciples said to Him, Look, Teacher! Notice the sort and quality of these stones and buildings! And Jesus replied to him, You see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be loosened and torn down. And as He sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple [ enclosure], Peter and James and John and Andrew asked Him privately, read more.
Tell us when is this to take place and what will be the sign when these things, all [of them], are about to be accomplished? And Jesus began to tell them, Be careful and watchful that no one misleads you [about it]. Many will come in [ appropriating to themselves] the name [of Messiah] which belongs to Me [ basing their claims on the use of My name], saying, I am [He]! And they will mislead many. And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not get alarmed (troubled and frightened); it is necessary [that these things] take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines and calamities. This is but the beginning of the intolerable anguish and suffering [only the first of the birth pangs].

Luke 21:5-11

And as some were saying of the temple that it was decorated with handsome (shapely and magnificent) stones and consecrated offerings [ laid up to be kept], He said, As for all this that you [thoughtfully] look at, the time will come when there shall not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down. And they asked Him, Teacher, when will this happen? And what sign will there be when this is about to occur? read more.
And He said, Be on your guard and be careful that you are not led astray; for many will come in My name [ appropriating to themselves the name Messiah which belongs to Me], saying, I am He! and, The time is at hand! Do not go out after them. And when you hear of wars and insurrections (disturbances, disorder, and confusion), do not become alarmed and panic-stricken and terrified; for all this must take place first, but the end will not [come] immediately. Then He told them, Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be mighty and violent earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences (plagues: malignant and contagious or infectious epidemic diseases which are deadly and devastating); and there will be sights of terror and great signs from heaven.

Pestilence » Sent as a judgment

Leviticus 26:16

I, in turn, will do this to you: I will appoint over you sudden terror, consumption, and fever that will waste away the eyes and cause the soul to languish also. And you will sow your seed uselessly, for your enemies will eat what you plant.

Leviticus 26:25

I will bring a sword on you that will execute vengeance for [breaking] the covenant; and when you gather together in your cities, I will send pestilence (virulent disease) among you, and you shall be handed over to the enemy.

War » Often attended by » Pestilence

Jeremiah 27:13

Why will you die, you and your people, by the sword, by famine and by virulent disease, as the Lord has spoken to any nation which will not serve the king of Babylon?

Jeremiah 28:8

The prophets who were before me and before you from ancient times prophesied against many lands and against great kingdoms, of war and of disaster and of virulent disease.

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Theasaurus: Pestilence