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And a fruitful land into a salt waste, Because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it.
Psalms 107:34 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB and a fruitful land into a salt waste, for the wickedness of those who dwell in it.
  • KJV A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein.
  • BSB and fruitful land into fields of salt, because of the wickedness of its dwellers.
  • NKJV A fruitful land into barrenness, For the wickedness of those who dwell in it.
  • NLT He turns the fruitful land into salty wastelands, because of the wickedness of those who live there.

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

He turns fruitful land into a salt waste because of the wickedness of its people.

Overview

God transforms productive ground into barren salt flats in response to the sin of those who dwell there, recalling the judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah. The land itself bears the consequences of human wickedness. This sobering truth shows that sin brings ruin, while magnifying the mercy that restores, ultimately through Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 7

  • Gen 14:3All these joined together in the valley of Siddim (also called the Salt Sea).
  • Gen 13:10Lot lifted up his eyes, and saw all the plain of the Jordan, that it was well-watered everywhere, before Yahweh destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of Yahweh, like the land of Egypt, as you go to Zoar.
  • Deut 29:23–28and that all of its land is sulfur, salt, and burning, that it is not sown, doesn’t produce, nor does any grass grow in it, like the overthrow of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, which Yahweh overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath;
  • Ezek 47:11But the miry places of it, and its marshes, shall not be healed; they shall be given up to salt.
  • Gen 19:24–25Then Yahweh rained on Sodom and on Gomorrah sulfur and fire from Yahweh out of the sky.
  • Isa 32:13–15Thorns and briers will come up on my people’s land; yes, on all the houses of joy in the joyous city.
  • Gen 13:13Now the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinners against Yahweh.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

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

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 107:34YouTube · 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 PsalmsMatthew 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

The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.

How Psalms 107:34 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.