The best Bible verses for famine include passages about God's love, strength, and guidance. This page features 15+ carefully curated Scripture passages for famine, each selected for its relevance and depth. Read, save, and share the perfect verse for your situation.
"By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat."Jeremiah 52:6
"By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat."Jeremiah 52:6
"Those killed by the sword are better off than those who die of famine; racked with hunger, they waste away for lack of food from the field."Lamentations 4:9
"I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land."Luke 4:25
"After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need."Luke 15:14
"There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven."Luke 21:11
"Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains."Mark 13:8
"Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places."Matthew 24:7
"Therefore, this is what the Lord says about the prophets who are prophesying in my name: I did not send them, yet they are saying, ‘No sword or famine will touch this land.’ Those same prophets will perish by sword and famine."Jeremiah 14:15
"And the people they are prophesying to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and sword. There will be no one to bury them or their wives, their sons or their daughters. I will pour out on them the calamity they deserve."Jeremiah 14:16
"“They will die of deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried but will be like refuse lying on the ground. They will perish by sword and famine, and their dead bodies will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth.”"Jeremiah 16:4
"So give their children over to famine; hand them over to the power of the sword. Let their wives be made childless and widows; let their men be put to death, their young men slain by the sword in battle."Jeremiah 18:21
"After that, declares the Lord, I will hand over Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials and the people in this city who survive the plague, sword and famine, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to their enemies who seek their lives. He will put them to the sword; he will show them no mercy or pity or compassion.’"Jeremiah 21:7
Scripture returns to famine often enough that no single verse covers it. The 15 passages below come from across the Old and New Testaments, and they do not all say the same thing — read together they give a fuller picture than any one of them does alone.
Each links to a study page with the full passage, its context, and the text in six translations, so a verse that catches your attention can be followed properly rather than left as a fragment.
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The most-cited Bible verses for famine are Jeremiah 52:6, Lamentations 4:9, Luke 4:25. This page collects 15 of them, each with its full passage, context and the text in six translations.
Read the verse in its surrounding passage before you use it — a verse that fits in isolation sometimes says something different in context. Compare two translations where the wording is unclear, and pick for the person who will read it rather than for the theme.
Scripture returns to famine across both testaments rather than settling it in one passage, which is why the verses on this page do not all say the same thing. Read together they give a fuller answer than any single verse does.
There is no single best translation. The NIV and NLT read most naturally and communicate well to someone outside the church; the ESV and NASB stay closer to the original wording; the KJV carries the phrasing most people recognise. Every verse here links to a page showing all six side by side.
More than any page can list. This one carries the 15 that are most often turned to for famine, chosen so each stands on its own and links through to the full chapter it belongs to.