Replace a string in shell script using a variable

Question

I am using the below code for replacing a string inside a shell script.

echo $LINE | sed -e \'s/12345678/\"$replace\"/g\'

but it\'s getting

Answer 1

I had a similar requirement to this but my replace var contained an ampersand. Escaping the ampersand like this solved my problem:

replace="salt & pepper"
echo "pass the salt" | sed "s/salt/${replace/&/\&}/g"