For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.
Parallel translations
- WEB For he shall be like a bush in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, a salt land and not inhabited.
- BSB He 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.
- NKJV For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, And shall not see when good comes, But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, In a salt land which is not inhabited.
- NASB “For he will be like a bush in the desert, And will not see when prosperity comes, But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness, A land of salt that is not inhabited.
- NLT They are like stunted shrubs in the desert, with no hope for the future. They will live in the barren wilderness, in an uninhabited salty land.
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 one who trusts in man is like a stunted bush in the desert, unable to sense good when it comes, dwelling in barren, uninhabited salt flats. Trusting in human strength leaves the soul fruitless and parched.
Overview
The image of a scrubby desert shrub portrays the barrenness of a life cut off from God by misplaced trust; it cannot recognize or enjoy good. This spiritual desolation is the fruit of departing from the LORD. It stands as a sober warning that self-reliance leads to lasting emptiness, in contrast to the abundant life God gives to those who trust Him through Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Job 20:17He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter.
- Deut 29:23And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:
- Ps 1:4The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
- Job 8:11–13Can the rush grow up without mire? can the flag grow without water?
- Job 15:30–34He shall not depart out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away.
- Jer 48:6Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness.
- Job 39:6Whose house I have made the wilderness, and the barren land his dwellings.
- Zeph 2:9Therefore as I live, saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, even the breeding of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation: the residue of my people shall spoil them, and the remnant of my people shall possess them.
- Ps 129:6–8Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, which withereth afore it groweth up:
- Judg 9:45And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, and slew the people that was therein, and beat down the city, and sowed it with salt.
- Ps 92:7When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever:
- Isa 1:30For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water.
- 2 Kgs 7:19–20And that lord answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, if the LORD should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.
- 2 Kgs 7:2Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.
- Ezek 47:11But the miry places thereof and the marishes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt.
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Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 17:6 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.