But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt.
Parallel translations
- WEB But the miry places of it, and its marshes, shall not be healed; they shall be given up to salt.
- KJV But the miry places thereof and the marishes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt.
- NKJV But its swamps and marshes will not be healed; they will be given over to salt.
- NASB But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt.
- NLT But the marshes and swamps will not be purified; they will still be salty.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The swamps and marshes are left salty and unhealed. Even amid sweeping restoration, some places remain reserved for judgment or necessary salt.
Overview
Notably, certain marshy areas are not healed but 'given up to salt.' Many take this practically (salt was a needed commodity); others see a sober reminder that not all is included in blessing, that judgment and grace coexist. Faithful interpreters differ on the emphasis, but the verse cautions against presuming on grace while leaving room for God's varied purposes.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Deut 29:23All its soil will be a burning waste of sulfur and salt, unsown and unproductive, with no plant growing on it, just like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in His fierce anger.
- Rev 22:11Let the unrighteous continue to be unrighteous, and the vile continue to be vile; let the righteous continue to practice righteousness, and the holy continue to be holy.”
- Rev 21:8But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.”
- Jer 17:6He will be like a shrub in the desert; he will not see when prosperity comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.
- Ps 107:34and fruitful land into fields of salt, because of the wickedness of its dwellers.
- Mark 9:48–49where ‘their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.’
- Judg 9:45And all that day Abimelech fought against the city until he had captured it and killed its people. Then he demolished the city and sowed it with salt.
- 2 Pet 2:19–22They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves to depravity. For a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.
- Heb 10:26–31If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains,
- Heb 6:4–8It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The promise of one Shepherd-King David, a new heart and new Spirit, and the river of life flowing from the temple all stream toward Christ, the good Shepherd who gives the Spirit.
How Ezekiel 47:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.