19 Bible Verses about Madness

For thus saith the LORD God of Israel to me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it. And they shall drink, and be moved, and enraged, because of the sword that I will send among them.

The LORD shall smite thee with the madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart:

A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith the LORD, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men. A sword is upon the liars; and they shall be sottish: a sword is upon her mighty men; and they shall be dismayed. A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed.read more.
A drouth is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up: for it is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols.

Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD'S hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drank of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.

All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. The king spoke, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty?read more.
While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom hath departed from thee. And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou shalt know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and ate grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws. And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honored him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say to him, What doest thou? At the same time my reason returned to me; and for the glory of my kingdom, my honor and brightness returned to me; and my counselors and my lords sought to me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added to me. Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.

In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open my eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness.

As a mad man who casteth fire-brands, arrows, and death,

But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man's voice, forbad the madness of the prophet.

There was a division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings. And many of them said, He hath a demon, and is insane; why hear ye him? Others said, These are not the words of him that hath a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?

And Elisha the prophet called one of the children of the prophets, and said to him, Gird up thy loins, and take this box of oil in thy hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead: And when thou comest thither, look out there Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, and go in, and make him arise up from among his brethren, and carry him to an inner chamber; Then take the box of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, Thus saith the LORD, I have anointed thee king over Israel. Then open the door, and flee, and tarry not.read more.
So the young man, even the young man the prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead. And when he came, behold, the captains of the host were sitting; and he said, I have an errand to thee, O captain. And Jehu said, To which of us all? And he said, To thee, O captain. And he arose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his head, and said to him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I have anointed thee king over the people of the LORD, even over Israel. And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel. For the whole house of Ahab shall perish: and I will cut off from Ahab the males, and him that is shut up and left in Israel: And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah: And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her. And he opened the door, and fled. Then Jehu came forth to the servants of his lord: and one said to him, Is all well? Why came this mad man to thee? And he said to them, Ye know the man, and his communication.

Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Because thou hast sent letters in thy name to all the people that are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying, The LORD hath made thee priest in the stead of Jehoiada the priest, that ye should be officers in the house of the LORD, for every man that is mad, and maketh himself a prophet, that thou shouldest put him in prison, and in the stocks. Now therefore why hast thou not reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth, who maketh himself a prophet to you?read more.
For therefore he sent to us in Babylon, saying, This captivity is long: build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them.

The days of visitation are come, the days of recompense are come; Israel shall know it: the prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad, for the multitude of thy iniquity, and the great hatred. The watchman of Ephraim was with my God: but the prophet is a snare of a fowler in all his ways, and hatred in the house of his God.

But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This man doth not cast out demons, but by Beelzebub the prince of the demons.

And the multitude cometh together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread. And when his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, He is beside himself. And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem, said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the demons he casteth out demons.

But some of them said, He casteth out demons through Beelzebub, the chief of the demons.

And as he was thus speaking for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee insane. But he said, I am not insane, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness.

For whether we are beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we are sober, it is for your cause.

A Psalm of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed. I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. And the servants of Achish said to him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands? And David laid up these words in his heart, and was greatly afraid of Achish the king of Gath.read more.
And he changed his behavior before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard. Then said Achish to his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: why then have ye brought him to me? Have I need of mad-men, that ye have brought this man to play the mad-man in my presence? shall this man come into my house?