Naomi Loses Her Husband and Sons

1 In the days when the judges ruled,^[a](A) there was a famine in the land.^(B) So a man from Bethlehem in Judah,^(C) together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while^(D) in the country of Moab.^(E)

The Gibeonites Avenged

21 During the reign of David, there was a famine^(A) for three successive years; so David sought^(B) the face of the Lord. The Lord said, “It is on account of Saul and his blood-stained house; it is because he put the Gibeonites to death.”

² So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab.

Now the famine was severe^(A) in Samaria,

Death in the Pot

³⁸ Elisha returned to Gilgal^(A) and there was a famine^(B) in that region. While the company of the prophets was meeting with him, he said to his servant, “Put on the large pot and cook some stew for these prophets.”

Famine in Besieged Samaria

²⁴ Some time later, Ben-Hadad^(A) king of Aram mobilized his entire army and marched up and laid siege^(B) to Samaria. ²⁵ There was a great famine^(C) in the city; the siege lasted so long that a donkey’s head sold for eighty shekels^[a] of silver, and a quarter of a cab^[b] of seed pods^[c](D) for five shekels.^[d]

The Shunammite’s Land Restored

8 Now Elisha had said to the woman^(A) whose son he had restored to life, “Go away with your family and stay for a while wherever you can, because the Lord has decreed a famine^(B) in the land that will last seven years.”^(C)

³ By the ninth day of the fourth^[a] month the famine^(A) in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat.