““You shall say to this people, ‘Yahweh says: “Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.”
— WEB
Jeremiah 21:8
Cited in 2 topics on this site.
Translations sourced from the public-domain WEB, KJV, and ASV. See all sources.
“And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death.”
— KJV
“And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.”
— ASV
Topics that cite this verse
Commentary
By the civil message which the king sent to Jeremiah it appeared that both he and the people began to have a respect for him, which it would have been Jeremiah's policy to make some advantage of for himself; but the reply which God obliges him to make is enough to crush the little respect they begin to have for him, and to exasperate them against him more than ever. Not only the predictions in the foregoing verses, but the prescriptions in these, were provoking; for here, I. He advises the people to surrender and ??desert to the Chaldeans, as the only means left them to save their lives, Jer 21:8-10. This counsel was very displeasing to those who were flattered by their false prophets into a desperate resolution to hold out to the last extremity, trusting to the strength of their walls and the courage of their soldiery to keep out the enemy, or to their foreign aids to raise the siege.
— Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary (public domain)
"Life," if ye surrender; "death," if ye persist in opposing the Chaldees (compare Deu 30:19). The individuality of Jeremiah's mission from God is shown in that he urges to unconditional surrender; whereas all former prophets had urged the people to oppose their invaders (Isa 7:16; Isa 37:33, Isa 37:35).
— Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary (public domain)
Newsletter
One verse, every Tuesday.
A short reflection, a single passage, three articles to read. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.