Yirmeyah 21:8

8 And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith Hashem; Hineni, I set before you the Derech HaChayyim and the Derech HaMavet.

Yirmeyah 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 ) .

Yirmeyah 21:8 In-Context

6 And I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both ha’adam and habehemah; they shall die of dever gadol (great plague).

7 And afterward, saith Hashem, I will deliver Tzidkiyah Melech Yehudah, and his avadim, and HaAm, and such as are survivors in this city from dever, from the cherev, and from the ra’av (famine), into the yad Nevuchadretzar Melech Bavel, and into the yad of their oyevim (enemies), and into the yad of those that seek their nefesh; and he shall strike them down with the edge of the cherev; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have rachamim.

8 And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith Hashem; Hineni, I set before you the Derech HaChayyim and the Derech HaMavet.

9 He that abideth in this city shall die by cherev, and by ra’av (famine), and by dever (plague); but he that goeth out, and falleth to the Kasdim (Chaldeans) that besiege you, he shall live, and his nefesh shall be unto him as plunder.

10 For I have set my face against this city for ra’ah, and not for tovah, saith Hashem; it shall be given into the yad Melech Bavel, and he shall set eish to it to burn it down.