Jeremiah 42:9
And said unto them, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him; And said unto them, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him;
The verse falls within the section of Jeremiah covering the history of the two years before Jerusalem fell. It belongs to the account of events after the fall of Jerusalem concerning the Jews left after Zedekiah's captivity, Jeremiah's faithful work among them, and their flight into Egypt. It is included in the suggested chronological sequence of Jeremiah's chapters.
The verse shows Jeremiah speaking in Tahpanhes to the Judean leaders as the one they had sent to present their plea before God, and it introduces God's response to them after they went to Egypt despite his protest. It records Jeremiah reporting that he had presented the people's supplication to the Lord, the God of Israel, and now speaks as God's messenger delivering the Lord's answer received through him.
The answer required the remnant to give up their plan to go to Egypt and stay in the land. If they obeyed, the Lord promised to protect them from the king of Babylon whom they feared and to show them mercy and blessing. Going to Egypt would bring sword, famine, and pestilence.
The people had already decided to go to Egypt and asked for God's will only to seek approval for their own plans, not meaning to follow the answer. They afterward disobeyed the direction given through Jeremiah and accused Baruch of influencing his message. They went to Egypt despite Jeremiah's protest. Their story shows that prayer can be only words on the lips when the heart is elsewhere or remains attached to disobedience.