Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.
Burned - namely, with the consuming wrath of heaven: either internally, as Job 30:30 (Rosenmuller), or externally, the prophet has before his eyes the people being consumed with the withering dryness of their doomed land (so Joel 1:10; Joel 1:12) (Maurer). And ultimately the "flaming fire" of vengeance with which the Lord Jesus shall visit all that obey not the Gospel.