Jeremias 21:8

8 And thou shalt say to this people, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I have set before you the way of life, and the way of death.

Jeremias 21:8 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 21:8

And unto the people thou shalt say, thus saith the Lord
These are the words, not of the prophet to the messengers of the king, ordering or advising them what they each of them should say to the people; for the message by them is finished; but they are the words of the Lord to the prophet, directing him what he should say to the people at this critical juncture: behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death;
the way how to preserve their lives; and which, if they did not choose to take, would be inevitable death. The allusion seems to be to a phrase used by Moses, when he gave the law; obedience to which would issue in life, and disobedience in death, ( Deuteronomy 30:15 Deuteronomy 30:19 ) .

Jeremias 21:8 In-Context

6 And I will smite all the dwellers in this city, men and cattle, with grievous pestilence: and they shall die.

7 And after this, thus saith the Lord; I will give Sedekias king of Juda, and his servants, and the people that is left in this city from the pestilence, and from the famine, and from the sword, into the hands of their enemies, that seek their lives: and they shall cut them in pieces with the edge of the sword: I will not spare them, and I will not have compassion upon them.

8 And thou shalt say to this people, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I have set before you the way of life, and the way of death.

9 He that remains in this city shall die by the sword, and by famine: but he that goes forth to advance to the Chaldeans that have besieged you, shall live, and his life shall be to him for a spoil, and he shall live.

10 For I have set my face against this city for evil, and not for good: it shall be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall consume it with fire.