'Famine' in the Bible
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 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 the seven thin and ugly cows coming up after them, they [are] seven years, and the seven empty ears of grain, scorched by the east wind, they are [also] seven years of famine.
Then seven years of famine will arise after them, and all the abundance in the land of Egypt will be forgotten. The famine will consume the land.
Abundance in the land will not be known because of the famine {that follows}, for it will be very heavy.
Then the food shall be as a deposit for the land for the seven years of the famine that will be in the land of Egypt, that the land will not perish on account of the famine."
Before the years of famine came, Asenath, daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore two sons to him.
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 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.
Then the sons of Israel went to buy grain amid those [other people] who went [as well], for there was famine in the land of Canaan.
If you [are] honest, let one of your brothers be kept in prison {where you are now being kept}, but [the rest of] you go, carry grain for the famine for your households.
Then the man, the lord of the land, said to us, 'By this I will know that you [are] honest. Leave one [brother] with me, and take [food for] the famine in your households and go.
For these two years the famine [has been] in the midst of the land, but [there will be] five more years where there is no plowing or harvest.
And I will provide for you there, because [there are] still five years of famine--lest you and your household and all that you have become destitute.'
And they said to Pharaoh, "We have come to sojourn in the land, for there is no pasture for your servant's flocks, for the famine [is] severe in the land of Canaan. So now, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen."
Now there was no food in all the land, for the famine [was] very severe. And the land of Egypt languished, with the land of Canaan, on account of the famine.
So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for each Egyptian sold his field, for the famine [was] severe upon them. And the land became Pharaoh's.
then you shall serve your enemies, whom Yahweh will send against you [under conditions of] famine, in thirst, in nakedness, and in lack of everything; and he shall place a yoke of iron on your neck {until he has destroyed you}.
[They will become] weakened by famine, and consumed by plague and bitter pestilence; and the teeth of wild animals I will send against them, with [the] poison of [the] creeping [things] in [the] dust;
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."
Then Gad came to David, and he told him and said to him, "Shall seven years of famine in the land come to you? Or three months of your fleeing from your enemies while he [is] pursuing you? Or should there be three days of pestilence in your land? Now consider and decide what I must return to the one who sent me a word."
If there should be in the land famine or disease, if there should be blight or mildew or locust or caterpillars, if it happens that his enemy lays siege against him in the land of his gates, if any plague or any disease,
So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. Now the famine [was] severe in Samaria.
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.
If we say, 'Let us go [into] the city,' the famine [is] in the city, and we shall die there; but if we sit here, we shall die. So then, come, let us fall into the camp of [the] Arameans. If they let us live, we shall live; but if they kill us, then we shall die."
Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, "Get up and go, you and your household, and dwell as an alien wherever you can, for Yahweh has called for a famine, and it will come to the land [for] seven years."
In the ninth month, the famine became severe in the city, and there was no food for the people of the land.
whether three years of famine or three months of devastation by your enemies while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or three days of the sword of Yahweh, with disease in the land and the angel of Yahweh destroying throughout all the territory in Israel.' So now, see what word I should return to my sender."
"If there is a famine in the land; if there is disease, blight, mildew, locust, and caterpillar; if it happens that his enemy lays siege to him in the land [and] his gates; any kind of plague, any kind of disease,
'If disaster, a sword, punishment, disease, or famine come upon us, we shall stand before this house and before you--for your name [is] in this house--and cry out to you out of our trouble, then you will hear and save [us].'
There were also those saying, "We have pledged our fields and our vineyards and our houses so that we can get grain in the famine."
In famine he will redeem you from death, and in war from [the] {power of} [the] sword.
At destruction and famine you shall laugh, and you shall not fear the wild animals of the earth.
to deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive in famine.
They will not be put to shame in distressing times, and in [the] days of famine they will be satisfied.
Then he called for a famine upon the land; he broke every {supply} of bread.
And [the] firstborn of [the] poor will graze, and [the] needy will lie down in security; but I will cause your root to die in famine, and it will kill your remnant.
Two [things] here [have] happened to you--who will {show sympathy} for you?-- devastation and destruction, famine and sword--who will comfort you?
"They have denied Yahweh, and have said, 'Not he, {for} evil will not come on us, we will see neither sword nor famine.
{Therefore} thus says Yahweh of hosts: "Look, I [am about to] punish them. The young men will die by the sword. Their sons and their daughters will die by the famine.
Although they fast, I [am] not listening to their cry of entreaty. And although they present burnt offering and grain offering, I [am] not favorable to them. But by the sword, and by the famine, and by the plague, I [am] about to destroy them."
Then I said, "Ah, Lord Yahweh, look, the prophets [are] saying to them, 'You will not see [the] sword, and famine will not be yours, but reliable peace I will give to you in this place.'"
{Therefore} thus says Yahweh concerning the prophets who prophecy in my name though I have not sent them, yet they [are] saying, "Sword and famine will not be in this land." "By the sword and by the famine those prophets will perish.
And the people [to] whom they [are] prophesying will be cast out into the streets of Jerusalem {because of} the famine and the sword. And there will be no [one who] buries them, their wives, or their sons, or their daughters. And I will pour out on them their wickedness.
If I go out [into] the field, then look, those slain by [the] sword. And if I enter the city, then look, the sickness of [the] famine. For both prophet and priest wander around through the land, {they do not know what is going on}.'"
{And then} if they say to you, 'Where shall we go?' Then you shall say to them, 'Thus says Yahweh, "[Those] who [are destined] for the plague, to the plague, and [those] who [are destined] for the sword, to the sword, and [those] who [are destined] for the famine, to the famine, and [those] who [are destined] for the captivity, to the captivity." '
"They will die by diseases, they will not be mourned, and they will not be buried. They will be as dung on the face of the earth. And they will perish by the sword and they will perish by the famine. And their dead bodies will become food for the birds of the air, and for the wild animals of the earth."
{Therefore} give their children to the famine, and hand them over to [the] {power} of [the] sword, and let their wives be bereaved and widows, and let their men be killed by death, their young men struck dead [by the] sword in the battle.
And {afterward}," {declares} Yahweh, "I will give Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and those who remain in this city from the plague, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their lives, and he will strike them with [the] {edge} of [the] sword. He will not take pity on them, and he will not have compassion, nor will he show compassion." '
He who stays in this city will die by the sword, or by the famine, or by the plague. And he who goes out and goes over to the Chaldeans who are laying siege to you will live, and his life will be to him as booty.
And I will send among them the sword, the famine, and the plague, until they perish from the land that I gave to them and their ancestors.'"
"But it will be [that] the nation or kingdom that will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put his neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, and with the famine, and with the plague," {declares} Yahweh, "until I have destroyed it with my hand.
Why should you die--you and your people--by the sword, by the famine, and by the plague, as Yahweh has spoken concerning the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?
thus says Yahweh of hosts, 'Look, I [am] going to send among them the sword, the famine, and the plague, and I will make them like rotten figs that cannot be eaten because of [their] bad quality.
And I will pursue them with the sword, with the famine, and with the plague, and I will make them a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth, a curse, and a horror, and [an object of] hissing, and a disgrace among all the nations to which I have driven them,
Look, the siege ramps have come up [to] the city to capture it, and the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it, because of the sword, the famine, and the plague, and what you spoke happened, and look, you [are] seeing [it].
"So now {therefore}, thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, concerning this city, [of] which you [are] saying, 'It will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the plague':
"{Therefore} thus says Yahweh, 'You have not listened to me to proclaim release each one to his fellow countryman and each one to his neighbor. Look, I [am] going to proclaim to you a release,' {declares} Yahweh, 'to the sword, to the plague, and to the famine, and I will make you a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth.
"Thus says Yahweh, 'The [one who] stays in this city will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the plague. But the [one who] goes out to the Chaldeans will live. And his life will be for him as booty, and he will live.'
then it will be [that] the sword that you [are] in fear of will overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine that you [are] anxious of will pursue after you there [into] Egypt, and there you will die.
So all the people who {are determined} to go [to] Egypt to dwell as aliens there will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the plague, and there will not be for them an escapee or a survivor from the disaster that I [am] bringing upon them."
Now then, certainly you must know that by the sword, by the famine, and by the plague you will die in the place where you desire to go, to dwell as aliens there."
And I will take [away] the remnant of Judah {who are determined} to come [to] the land of Egypt to dwell as aliens there, and everyone will perish. They will fall in the land of Egypt by the sword; they will perish by the famine, from [the] smallest to [the] greatest. By the sword and by the famine they will die and become as a curse, as a horror, and as a curse, and as a disgrace.
So I will punish those who live in the land of Egypt just as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with the famine, and with the plague.
But {since} we stopped making smoke offerings to the queen of heaven and pouring out libations to her, we have lacked everything, and by the sword and by the famine we have perished.
Look, I [am] going to watch over them for harm and not for good, and all people of Judah who [are] in the land of Egypt will perish by the sword and by the famine until their perishing.
In the fourth month, on [the] ninth [day] of the month, the famine in the city became severe and there was no food for the people of the land.
Happier were [the] victims of [the] sword than the victims of famine; they have pined away, very hungry for the crops of my field.
Our skin is hot like an oven because of the scorching famine.
A third of you will die because of the plague, and because of the famine they will perish in the midst of you, and a third will fall through the sword around you, and a third I will scatter to every direction of the wind, and I will draw [the] sword behind them.
When I send my arrows of deadly famine against them, which will be as destruction that I will send [in order] to destroy you, I will increase famine against you, and I will break {the supply of food} for you.
And I will send against you famine and fierce animals, and they will make you childless; and plague and blood will pass through you, and I will bring [the] sword upon you. I, Yahweh, I have spoken!"
Thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Clap your hand and stamp with your foot, and say, "Alas, for all of the detestable things of the evil of the house of Israel, {because of which} they will fall with the sword, with the famine, and with the plague.
The one who is far [away] will die by the plague, and the one who is near will fall by the sword, and the one who is being left behind and being spared will die by the famine, and I will complete my rage on them.
The sword {is outside}, and the plague and the famine {are inside}; [the one] who [is] in the field will die by the sword, and [the one] who [is] in the city, famine and plague will devour him.
But I will spare from them {a few men} from [the] sword, from [the] famine and from [the] plague, so that they may tell of all their abominations among the nations [to] which they will go, and they will know that I [am] Yahweh."
"Son of man, when a land sins against me by {acting very unfaithfully}, then I will stretch out my hand against it, and I will break for it [the] {supply of food}, and I will send against it famine, and I will cut it off, [both] human and animal.
For thus says the Lord Yahweh: "How much more when I send my four punishments--the evil sword, and famine, and fierce animal, and a plague--to Jerusalem to cut it off, [both] human and animal!
And I will raise for them a garden plot of renown, and they will {no longer} be victims of famine in the land, and they will not bear any more the insult of the nations.
And I will save you from all of your uncleanness, and I will call to the grain, and I will cause it to increase, and I will not bring famine upon you.
And I will cause the fruit of the tree and the crop of the field to increase, so that you will not suffer again [the] disgrace of famine among the nations.
Look, the days are coming," {declares} my Lord Yahweh, "when I will send a famine in the land, not a famine for bread and not a thirst for water, but {of hearing} the words of Yahweh!
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.
And [after] he had spent everything, there was a severe famine throughout that country, and he began to be in need.
And a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan and great affliction, and our fathers could not find food.
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).
And I looked, and behold, a pale green horse, and the one seated on it {was named} Death, and Hades followed after him. And authority was granted to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill by the sword and by famine and by pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.
Because of this her plagues will come in one day-- death and mourning and famine-- and she will be burned up with fire, because the Lord God who passes judgment on her [is] powerful!"