Joel 1:18

18 The farm animals groan - oh, how they groan! The cattle mill around. There's nothing for them to eat. Not even the sheep find anything.

Joel 1:18 Meaning and Commentary

Joel 1:18

How do the beasts groan?
&c.] For want of fodder, all green grass and herbs being eaten up by the locusts; or devoured, or trampled upon, and destroyed, by the Chaldeans; and also for want of water to quench their thirst: the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture;
the larger cattle, as oxen; these were in the utmost perplexity, not knowing where to go for food or drink: yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate;
which have shepherds to lead and direct them to pastures, and can feed on commons, where the grass is short, which other cattle cannot; yet even these were in great distress, and wasted away, and were consumed for want of nourishment.

Joel 1:18 In-Context

16 Food is just a memory at our tables, as are joy and singing from God's Sanctuary.
17 The seeds in the field are dead, barns deserted, Grain silos abandoned. Who needs them? The crops have failed!
18 The farm animals groan - oh, how they groan! The cattle mill around. There's nothing for them to eat. Not even the sheep find anything.
19 God! I pray, I cry out to you! The fields are burning up, The country is a dust bowl, forest and prairie fires rage unchecked.
20 Wild animals, dying of thirst, look to you for a drink. Springs and streams are dried up. The whole country is burning up.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.