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Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.
Mark 9:50 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, with what will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
  • BSB Salt is good, but if the salt loses its saltiness, with what will you season it? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
  • NKJV Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another.”
  • NASB Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
  • NLT Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? You must have the qualities of salt among yourselves and live in peace with each other.”

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

Salt is good, but useless if it loses its saltiness; disciples must keep their distinctiveness and live at peace. Genuine discipleship preserves its God-given character and fosters harmony.

Overview

Drawing on salt's preserving and seasoning role, Jesus warns against a discipleship that loses its distinct flavor and usefulness. "Have salt in yourselves" calls for inward grace that shapes character. The closing command to be at peace with one another circles back to the disciples' rivalry, redirecting them from ambition to humble unity.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 26

  • Col 4:6Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.
  • Rom 12:18If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
  • Matt 5:13Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
  • 2 Cor 13:11Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.
  • Heb 12:14Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
  • Phil 1:27Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;
  • Job 6:6Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt? or is there any taste in the white of an egg?
  • Luke 14:34–35Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?
  • 1 Th 5:13And to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves.
  • Eph 4:31–32Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
  • Eph 4:29Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
  • 2 Tim 2:22Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
  • Gal 5:22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
  • 1 Pet 3:8Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:
  • Phil 2:1–3If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
  • Jas 3:14–18But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
  • Jas 1:20For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
  • Eph 4:2–6With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
  • John 13:34–35A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
  • Col 3:12Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
  • Ps 34:14Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
  • Mark 9:34But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest.
  • John 15:17–18These things I command you, that ye love one another.
  • Ps 133:1Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
  • Gal 5:14–15For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
  • Rom 14:17–19For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (8)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Mark videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Mark 9:50YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on MarkMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'

How Mark 9:50 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 Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.