27 Bible Verses about Famine

Even though the fig tree does not blossom, and there are no grapes on the vines; even if the olive harvest fails, and the fields produce nothing edible; even if the flock is snatched from the sheepfold, and there is no herd in the stalls as for me, I will rejoice in the LORD. I will find my joy in the God who delivers me.

Rejoice and be extremely glad, because your reward in heaven is great! That's how they persecuted the prophets who came before you."

Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because your reward in heaven is great! That's the way their ancestors used to treat the prophets.

When I destroy the source of your bread, ten women will bake bread in one oven. Then they'll return back your bread by weight. You'll eat but won't be satisfied.

He also told me, "Son of Man, look! I'm about to disrupt the source of bread in Jerusalem. As a result, they'll ration bread by weight while their terror continues to grow and they'll ration drinking water while their horror continues to mount!

"You'll eat your own children the flesh of your sons and daughters, whom the LORD your God gave you on account of the siege and the distress with which your enemy will oppress you.

The people to whom they have prophesied will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword. There will be no one to bury them, their wives, their sons, or their daughters. I'll pour out on them the judgment they deserve.'"

A third of you will die by pestilence, starving because of the famine in your midst. Another third will die violently by the violence of war around you. The final third I'll scatter to the wind as I unsheathe my sword to pursue them.

"They'll devour your harvest and your food. They'll devour your sons and your daughters. They'll devour your vines and your fig trees. With their swords they'll batter down your fortified cities in which you trust.

All her people groaned as they searched for food. They traded their valuables in order to eat, to keep themselves alive. Look, LORD, and see how I have become dishonored.

Therefore my people go into exile because they lack understanding; my honored men go hungry, and the crowd is parched with thirst.

I called out to my lovers, but they deceived me. My priests and my elders have died within the city while looking for something to eat to keep themselves alive.

"For wickedness has burned like a blaze that consumes briers and thorns; it sets thickets of the forest on fire, and skyward they swirl in a column of smoke. From the wrath of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies the land has been scorched, and the people have become like fuel for the fire; no one will spare his neighbor. They cut meat on the right, but they're still hungry, and they devour also on the left, but they're not satisfied; each devours the flesh of his own children. read more.
Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim devours Manasseh; together they are against Judah. "Yet for all this, his anger has not turned away, and his hand is still stretched out, ready to strike."

Later on, a famine swept through the land. This famine was different from the previous famine that had occurred earlier, during Abraham's lifetime. So Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar.

One time there was a famine during David's reign that went on for three straight years. David sought the LORD, who said, "Saul and his household are guilty because he executed the Gibeonites."

There was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to live because the famine was so severe.

Quite some time later three years later! this message from the LORD came to Elijah: "Go visit Ahab, and I'll send some rain to the surface of the ground."

until there was a great famine throughout Samaria. The siege lasted until a donkey's head cost 80 silver coins and one quarter of a unit of dove's dung cost five silver coins. While the king of Israel was walking along the city wall, a woman cried out to him. "Help me, your majesty!" she said. He replied, "No! Since the LORD won't give you victory, how will I be able to deliver you? From the threshing floor? From the wine press?" read more.
Then the king asked her, "What's bothering you?" She said, "This woman told me, "Give up your son, and we'll eat him today, and we'll eat your son tomorrow.'" So we boiled my son and ate him. The next day, I told her, "Give me your son so we can eat him!' But she has hidden her son!"

One of them named Agabus got up and predicted by the Spirit that there would be a severe famine all over the world. This happened during the reign of Claudius.

Even though the fig tree does not blossom, and there are no grapes on the vines; even if the olive harvest fails, and the fields produce nothing edible; even if the flock is snatched from the sheepfold, and there is no herd in the stalls

because nation will rise up in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

The seven gaunt cows that arose after the healthy cows are seven years, as are the seven gaunt ears scorched by the east wind. There will be seven years of famine.

because nation will rise up in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

All the people who are determined to go into Egypt to settle there will die by the sword, by famine, and by the plague. No one will survive the disaster that I'll bring on them."

The sword lurks outside, but pestilence and famine are on the prowl inside the house. Whoever is in the field will die by violence, while famine and pestilence will devour those in the city.

There was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to live because the famine was so severe.

By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine became so severe that there was no food for the people of the land.

So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab, right when the famine in Samaria was most severe.

Elijah the foreigner, who was an alien resident from Gilead, told Ahab, "As the LORD God of Israel lives, in whose presence I'm standing, there will be neither dew nor rain these next several years, except when I say so."

"I therefore have withheld the rain from you three months before the harvest, causing rain to come upon one city, but not upon another, and upon one field but not upon another, so that it would wither.

This is this message from the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought: "Judah mourns, and her gates languish. The people mourn for the land, and the cry of Jerusalem goes up. Their nobles send their young people for water. They go to the cisterns, but they find no water. They return with their vessels empty. They're disappointed and dismayed, and they cover their heads in shame. read more.
The ground is cracked, because there has been no rain in the land. The farmers are disappointed, and they cover their heads in shame.

"A people whom you don't know will devour what your land and labor produces. You'll be only oppressed and discouraged continuously

Its army will consume the offspring of your animals and the produce of your soil until you are exterminated. They will leave you without your grain, wine, oil, the increase of your cattle, and the lamb of your flock, until you are completely destroyed.

"You'll plant many seeds in a field, but your harvest will be small because the locust will consume it.

Whirling locusts will consume every tree and the produce of your land.

Now their faces are blacker than coal; they are unrecognized in the streets. Their skin clings to their bones; it has become dry like a stick.

Our skin blisters as from an oven, due to ravaging blasts of the famine.

At that time, you'll eat the flesh of your sons and you'll eat the flesh of your daughters.

Then the king asked her, "What's bothering you?" She said, "This woman told me, "Give up your son, and we'll eat him today, and we'll eat your son tomorrow.'" So we boiled my son and ate him. The next day, I told her, "Give me your son so we can eat him!' But she has hidden her son!"

When I destroy the source of your bread, ten women will bake bread in one oven. Then they'll return back your bread by weight. You'll eat but won't be satisfied.

"If you live life contrary to me and remain unwilling to listen to me, then I'll add to your wounds seven times more on account of your sins.

until there was a great famine throughout Samaria. The siege lasted until a donkey's head cost 80 silver coins and one quarter of a unit of dove's dung cost five silver coins.

Those who enjoyed delicacies lie desolate in the streets. Those who were reared wearing purple scavenge in piles of trash.

Now their faces are blacker than coal; they are unrecognized in the streets. Their skin clings to their bones; it has become dry like a stick.

Indeed, they'll need bread and water, but everyone will be panic-stricken as they waste away in their iniquity."

Therefore, this is what the LORD says about the false prophets who prophesy in my name, "There will be no sword and famine in this land' (though I haven't sent them): "By the sword and by famine these prophets will be finished off!

I'll pursue them with the sword, with famine, and with plague, and I'll make them a horrifying sight to all the kingdoms of the earth. I'll make them a curse, an object of horror, and scorn, and a desolation in all the nations to which I've driven them,

The seven gaunt cows that arose after the healthy cows are seven years, as are the seven gaunt ears scorched by the east wind. There will be seven years of famine.

Meanwhile, Elisha urged the woman whose son he had restored to life, "You must get up and leave with your household to go live wherever you can, because the LORD has called for a famine, and it's going to come over the land for seven years." So the woman followed the instructions given to her by the man of God, and she went to the territory of the Philistines to live for seven years with her household.

If we tell ourselves, "Let's remain in the city,' we'll die there since there's famine in the city. But if we sit here, we'll die, too. So let's go over to the Arameans! If they spare our lives, we'll live, and if they kill us"we're dying anyway!"

Therefore, this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "I'm about to punish them. The young men will die by the sword. Their sons and daughters will die by famine.

Elijah the foreigner, who was an alien resident from Gilead, told Ahab, "As the LORD God of Israel lives, in whose presence I'm standing, there will be neither dew nor rain these next several years, except when I say so."

Ahab had instructed Obadiah, "Go throughout the land to all of the water springs and to all of the valleys. Maybe we'll find some grass to keep the horses and mules alive. Also, maybe we won't have to kill some of our cattle."

You will be able to drink from that brook, and I've commanded some crows to sustain you there."

"Get up, move to Zarephath in Sidon, and stay there. Look! I've commanded a widow to sustain you there."

He will deliver you from death by famine; in war from the power of the sword.

to deliver them from death; to keep them alive in times of famine.

They will not experience shame in times of trouble; in times of famine they will have plenty.

I punished you and everything that you undertook with scorching wind, with mildew, and with hail, and you still did not return to me,' declares the LORD.

"I afflicted you with blight and fungus; and the locust swarm devoured the harvest of your gardens, your vineyards, your fig trees, and your olive trees, but you have not returned to me," declares the LORD.

By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine became so severe that there was no food for the people of the land.

By the ninth day of the fourth month, the resulting famine had become so severe in the city that no food remained for the people who lived in the land.

"You'll eat your own children the flesh of your sons and daughters, whom the LORD your God gave you on account of the siege and the distress with which your enemy will oppress you.

Then the king asked her, "What's bothering you?"

Emaciated from famine, feverish from plague, and destroyed by bitterness, I'll send fanged beasts against them, along with poisonous snakes that glide through the dust.

As soon as the seven years of abundance throughout the land of Egypt ended, the seven years of famine started, just as Joseph had predicted. It was an international famine, but there was food everywhere throughout the land of Egypt. Eventually, the land of Egypt began to feel the effects of the famine, so the people cried out to Pharaoh for food. "Go see Joseph," Pharaoh announced to all the Egyptians, "and do whatever he tells you to do." read more.
Joseph opened all of the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians, because the famine was beginning to be severe throughout the land of Egypt.

In addition, I'll deliver you from everything that makes you unclean. I'll call out to the grain you plant, ordering it to produce abundant yields, and I will never bring famine in your direction. I'll increase the yields of your fruit trees and crops so that you'll never again experience the disgrace of famine that occurs in other nations.

Somebody went out into the fields to grab some herbs, found a wild vine, and gathered a lap full of wild gourds, which he came and sliced up into the stew pot, but nobody else knew. When they served the men, they began to eat the stew. But they cried out, "That pot of stew is deadly, you man of God!" So they couldn't eat the stew.

Even the doe in the field gives birth and then abandons her young because there is no grass. Wild donkeys stand on the barren hills. They pant for air like jackals. Their eyesight fails because there is no vegetation."

The LORD will incite them to terror, because he will cause all the gods of the earth to waste away. They will worship him, every person in his own home, including even the coastlands of the nations."

This is this message from the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:

There was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to live because the famine was so severe.

One time there was a famine during David's reign that went on for three straight years. David sought the LORD, who said, "Saul and his household are guilty because he executed the Gibeonites."

Meanwhile, there continued to be no food throughout the land, because the famine remained very severe. As a result, both Egypt and Canaan languished under the effects of the famine.

This is what the Lord GOD says, "I'm sending four of my most destructive judgments military invasion, famine, wild animals, and pestilence into Jerusalem to destroy both human beings and livestock in it.

By the ninth day of the fourth month, the resulting famine had become so severe in the city that no food remained for the people who lived in the land.

until there was a great famine throughout Samaria. The siege lasted until a donkey's head cost 80 silver coins and one quarter of a unit of dove's dung cost five silver coins.

Elisha returned to Gilgal during a time of famine in the land. While the Guild of Prophets were having a meal with him, he instructed his attendant, "Put a large pot on the fire and boil some stew for the Guild of Prophets."

Later on, a famine swept through the land. This famine was different from the previous famine that had occurred earlier, during Abraham's lifetime. So Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar.

because nation will rise up in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

Others were saying, "We're having to mortgage our fields, our vineyards, and our homes so we can buy grain during this famine."

until there was a great famine throughout Samaria. The siege lasted until a donkey's head cost 80 silver coins and one quarter of a unit of dove's dung cost five silver coins.

"Look! The days are coming," declares the Lord GOD, "when I will send a famine throughout the land not a famine of food or a thirst for water but rather a famine of hearing the words of the LORD. People will stagger from sea to sea, from north to east. They will run back and forth, searching for a message from the LORD, but they won't find it.

I'll send arrows of severe famine in their direction, meant for destruction, which I'll shoot, intending to destroy them. I'll make you have more and more famines that will attack you, and I'll disrupt your source of food.

Be dismayed, you farmers! Cry aloud, you vintners, for the wheat and barley, because the harvest in your fields has been lost. The grapevine is shriveled and the fig tree is withered, along with the pomegranate tree, the palm tree, the apple tree and all of the cultivated trees. Truly, joy has evaporated from Adam's children." "Put on your mourning clothes, you priests; and cry aloud, you ministering servants at the altar! Come! Stay the night in mourner's clothes, you ministers of my God, because the grain offering and the wine offering is held back from the Temple of your God.

He also told me, "Son of Man, look! I'm about to disrupt the source of bread in Jerusalem. As a result, they'll ration bread by weight while their terror continues to grow and they'll ration drinking water while their horror continues to mount!

He declared a famine on the land; destroying the entire food supply.

Meanwhile, Elisha urged the woman whose son he had restored to life, "You must get up and leave with your household to go live wherever you can, because the LORD has called for a famine, and it's going to come over the land for seven years."

As soon as the seven years of abundance throughout the land of Egypt ended, the seven years of famine started, just as Joseph had predicted. It was an international famine, but there was food everywhere throughout the land of Egypt. Eventually, the land of Egypt began to feel the effects of the famine, so the people cried out to Pharaoh for food. "Go see Joseph," Pharaoh announced to all the Egyptians, "and do whatever he tells you to do." read more.
Joseph opened all of the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians, because the famine was beginning to be severe throughout the land of Egypt. In addition, all of the surrounding nations came to Joseph to buy grain from Egypt, because the famine had become severe throughout the world.

She didn't recognize that it was I who provided her grain, wine, and oil, and it was I who gave her silver, while they crafted gold for Baal. "Therefore I'll return and take back my grain at harvest time and my new wine in its season. I'll take back my wool and my flax that was to have covered her nakedness.

One of them named Agabus got up and predicted by the Spirit that there would be a severe famine all over the world. This happened during the reign of Claudius.

"Note this! The Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies is taking away from Jerusalem and Judah everything that your society needs all food supplies and all water supplies,

Seeds shrivel within their furrows, the storehouses lie empty, and granaries stand in ruins because the grain has withered.

Now there came a time of famine while judges were ruling in the land of Israel. A man from Bethlehem of Judah, his wife, and his two sons left to live in the country of Moab.

"I also have scheduled food shortages for you in all of your cities, and lack of bread in all of your settlements, but you haven't returned to me," declares the LORD.

One of them named Agabus got up and predicted by the Spirit that there would be a severe famine all over the world. This happened during the reign of Claudius.

"Look! The days are coming," declares the Lord GOD, "when I will send a famine throughout the land not a famine of food or a thirst for water but rather a famine of hearing the words of the LORD.

Even though the fig tree does not blossom, and there are no grapes on the vines; even if the olive harvest fails, and the fields produce nothing edible; even if the flock is snatched from the sheepfold, and there is no herd in the stalls as for me, I will rejoice in the LORD. I will find my joy in the God who delivers me.

Rejoice and be extremely glad, because your reward in heaven is great! That's how they persecuted the prophets who came before you."

Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because your reward in heaven is great! That's the way their ancestors used to treat the prophets.

"You'll plant many seeds in a field, but your harvest will be small because the locust will consume it. You'll plant a vineyard, but you won't drink wine or harvest any grapes because worms will consume it. You'll have olive trees throughout your territory, but you won't be able to anoint yourself with oil because the olives will drop off the trees.

"I therefore have withheld the rain from you three months before the harvest, causing rain to come upon one city, but not upon another, and upon one field but not upon another, so that it would wither. So the people of two or three cities staggered away to another city in order to obtain drinking water, but you have not returned to me," declares the LORD. "I afflicted you with blight and fungus; and the locust swarm devoured the harvest of your gardens, your vineyards, your fig trees, and your olive trees, but you have not returned to me," declares the LORD.

When I destroy the source of your bread, ten women will bake bread in one oven. Then they'll return back your bread by weight. You'll eat but won't be satisfied.

At that time, you'll eat the flesh of your sons and you'll eat the flesh of your daughters.

I'll break your mighty pride. I'll make the heavens to be like iron and the ground like bronze. Your strength will be spent in vain, because your land won't yield its produce and the trees of the land won't yield their fruit.

Even though the fig tree does not blossom, and there are no grapes on the vines; even if the olive harvest fails, and the fields produce nothing edible; even if the flock is snatched from the sheepfold, and there is no herd in the stalls as for me, I will rejoice in the LORD. I will find my joy in the God who delivers me.

Rejoice and be extremely glad, because your reward in heaven is great! That's how they persecuted the prophets who came before you."

Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because your reward in heaven is great! That's the way their ancestors used to treat the prophets.

Our skin blisters as from an oven, due to ravaging blasts of the famine.

Therefore, this is what the LORD says about the false prophets who prophesy in my name, "There will be no sword and famine in this land' (though I haven't sent them): "By the sword and by famine these prophets will be finished off!

"These twin things have come upon you (who can feel sorry for you?): ruin and destruction, famine and the sword who can console you?