Joel 1:18
◄  Joel 1:18  ►
New International Version (©2011)
How the cattle moan! The herds mill about because they have no pasture; even the flocks of sheep are suffering.

New Living Translation (©2007)
How the animals moan with hunger! The herds of cattle wander about confused, because they have no pasture. The flocks of sheep and goats bleat in misery.

English Standard Version (©2001)
How the beasts groan! The herds of cattle are perplexed because there is no pasture for them; even the flocks of sheep suffer.

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
How the beasts groan! The herds of cattle wander aimlessly Because there is no pasture for them; Even the flocks of sheep suffer.

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.

Holman Christian Standard Bible (©2009)
How the animals groan! The herds of cattle wander in confusion since they have no pasture. Even the flocks of sheep suffer punishment.

International Standard Version (©2012)
Oh, how the livestock groan! The herds of cattle wander about because they have no pasture. Even flocks of sheep suffer!

NET Bible (©2006)
Listen to the cattle groan! The herds of livestock wander around in confusion because they have no pasture. Even the flocks of sheep are suffering.

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
The animals groan. Herds of cattle wander around confused. There's no pasture for them. Even flocks of sheep are suffering.

King James 2000 Bible (©2003)
How the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.

American King James Version
How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yes, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.

American Standard Version
How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Why did the beast groan, why did the herds of cattle low? because there is no pasture for them: yea, and the flocks of sheep are perished.

Darby Bible Translation
How do the beasts groan! The herds of cattle are bewildered, for they have no pasture; the flocks of sheep also are in suffering.

English Revised Version
How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.

Webster's Bible Translation
How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yes, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.

World English Bible
How the animals groan! The herds of livestock are perplexed, because they have no pasture. Yes, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.

Young's Literal Translation
How have cattle sighed! Perplexed have been droves of oxen, For there is no pasture for them, Also droves of sheep have been desolated.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

1:14-20 The sorrow of the people is turned into repentance and humiliation before God. With all the marks of sorrow and shame, sin must be confessed and bewailed. A day is to be appointed for this purpose; a day in which people must be kept from their common employments, that they may more closely attend God's services; and there is to be abstaining from meat and drink. Every one had added to the national guilt, all shared in the national calamity, therefore every one must join in repentance. When joy and gladness are cut off from God's house, when serious godliness decays, and love waxes cold, then it is time to cry unto the Lord. The prophet describes how grievous the calamity. See even the inferior creatures suffering for our transgression. And what better are they than beasts, who never cry to God but for corn and wine, and complain of the want of the delights of sense? Yet their crying to God in those cases, shames the stupidity of those who cry not to God in any case. Whatever may become of the nations and churches that persist in ungodliness, believers will find the comfort of acceptance with God, when the wicked shall be burned up with his indignation.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

How do the beasts groan?.... 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.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

18. cattle … perplexed—implying the restless gestures of the dumb beasts in their inability to find food. There is a tacit contrast between the sense of the brute creation and the insensibility of the people.

yea, the … sheep—Even the sheep, which are content with less rich pasturage, cannot find food.

are made desolate—literally, "suffer punishment." The innocent brute shares the "punishment" of guilty man (Ex 12:29; Jon 3:7; 4:11).

Joel 1:18 Parallel Commentaries

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A Call to Repentance
…17The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered. 18How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yes, the flocks of sheep are made desolate. 19O LORD, to you will I cry: for the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame has burned all the trees of the field.

1 Kings 8:5 and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered about him were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted.
Jeremiah 12:4 How long will the land lie parched and the grass in every field be withered? Because those who live in it are wicked, the animals and birds have perished. Moreover, the people are saying, "He will not see what happens to us."
Jeremiah 14:5 Even the doe in the field deserts her newborn fawn because there is no grass.
Jeremiah 14:6 Wild donkeys stand on the barren heights and pant like jackals; their eyes fail for lack of food."
Hosea 4:3 Because of this the land dries up, and all who live in it waste away; the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea are swept away.
Joel 1:20 Even the wild animals pant for you; the streams of water have dried up and fire has devoured the pastures in the wilderness.
Amos 1:2 He said: "The LORD roars from Zion and thunders from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds dry up, and the top of Carmel withers."
Habakkuk 3:17 Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,
Haggai 1:10 Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops.