Joel 1:16

"Is not the food cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of God? The seeds rot under their clods; the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the grain is withered. How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate."

This is a further emphasis upon the severity of the plague; and it is evident that the scourge of the locusts has been compounded and multiplied by drought. The situation appeared to be utterly hopeless. Without food or pasture, the herds of sheep and cattle would soon die; a disaster of the greatest magnitude was upon them.

What with the locusts devouring all that appeared above ground, and the drought destroying the seeds sown under the surface, the havoc was complete; famine and distress afflicted both man and beast.[33]