^21:8“But¹⁶ tell the people of Jerusalem¹⁷ that the Lord says, ‘I will give you a choice between two courses of action. One will result in life; the other will result in death.¹⁸^21:9Those who stay in this city will die in battle or of starvation or disease. Those who leave the city and surrender to the Babylonians who are besieging it will live. They will escape with their lives.¹⁹^21:10For I, the Lord, say that²⁰ I am determined not to deliver this city but to bring disaster on it.²¹ It will be handed over to the king of Babylon and he will destroy it with fire.’ ”²²

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Footnotes

16 Heb “And/But unto this people you shall say …” “But” is suggested here by the unusual word order which offsets what they are to say to Zedekiah (v. 3).
17 Heb “these people.”
18 Heb “Behold I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death.”
19 Heb “his life will be to him for spoil.” Spoil was what was carried off by the victor (see, e.g., Judg 5:30). Those who surrendered to the Babylonians would lose their property, their freedom, and their citizenship but would at least escape with their lives. Jeremiah was branded a traitor for this counsel (cf. 38:4) but it was the way of wisdom since the Lord was firmly determined to destroy the city (cf. v. 10).
20 Heb “oracle of the Lord.”
21 Heb “I have set my face against this city for evil [i.e., disaster] and not for good [i.e., well-being].” For the use of the idiom “set one’s face against/toward” see, e.g., usage in 1 Kgs 2:15; 2 Kgs 2:17; Jer 42:15, 17 and note the interesting interplay of usage in Jer 44:11–12.
22 Heb “he will burn it with fire.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

“And to this people you shall say: ‘Thus says the Lord: Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. He who stays in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but he who goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you shall live and shall have his life as a prize of war. For I have set my face against this city for harm and not for good, declares the Lord: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.’

NIVNew International Version (2011)

“Furthermore, tell the people, ‘This is what the Lord says: See, I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death. Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague. But whoever goes out and surrenders to the Babylonians who are besieging you will live; they will escape with their lives. I have determined to do this city harm and not good, declares the Lord. It will be given into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will destroy it with fire.’

CSBChristian Standard Bible

“But tell this people, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look, I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death. Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine, and plague, but whoever goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live and will retain his life like the spoils of war. For I have set my face against this city to bring disaster and not good—this is the Lord’s declaration. It will be handed over to the king of Babylon, who will burn it.’

NLTNew Living Translation

“Tell all the people, ‘This is what the Lord says: Take your choice of life or death! Everyone who stays in Jerusalem will die from war, famine, or disease, but those who go out and surrender to the Babylonians will live. Their reward will be life! For I have decided to bring disaster and not good upon this city, says the Lord. It will be handed over to the king of Babylon, and he will reduce it to ashes.’

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

“And to this people you shall say, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Look, I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death. He who stays in this city will die by the sword, or by the famine, or by the plague. And he who goes out and goes over to the Chaldeans who are laying siege to you will live, and his life will be to him as booty. For I have set my face against this city for evil and not for good,” declares Yahweh. It will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire.” ’

KJV 1900King James Version

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. He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth out, and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey. For I have set my face against this city for evil, and not for good, saith the Lord: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.

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