The Lord responds through Jeremiah to Zedekiah’s request for prayer. The Egyptian army, says the Lord, that came to help Judah will return to Egypt and the Babylonians will come back to fight against Jerusalem. The hope the people had put in the Egyptians was misplaced. The Lord does not simply know what these powerful nations will do, he is the Lord, God of Israel,
who controls these nations for his own purposes. Such words, coming at a time when the morale of the people had been boosted by the Babylonian withdrawal, could only arouse bitter and violent antagonism against him (Jeremiah).
1
7 “Thus says the LORD, God of Israel: Thus shall you say to the king of Judah who sent you to me to inquire of me, ‘Behold, Pharaoh’s army that came to help you is about to return to Egypt, to its own land.