6. Then all the people who live in Egypt will know that I am the Lord.“‘Israel tried to lean on you for help. But you were like a crutch made out of a weak stalk of grass.
7. When their hands grabbed you, you splintered and tore open their shoulders. When they leaned on you, you broke and made all their backs twist.
8. “‘So this is what the Lord God says: I will cause an enemy to attack you. He will kill your men and animals.
9. Then Egypt will become an empty desert. They will know that I am the Lord.“‘This is because you said, “The Nile River is mine. And I have made it.”
10. So, I am against you. I am against your rivers. I will destroy the land of Egypt. It will be empty desert from Migdol in the north to Aswan in the south. It will be empty all the way to the southern border of Cush.
11. No man or animal will walk through it. No one will live in Egypt for 40 years.
12. I will make the land of Egypt the emptiest country of all. And her cities will be the emptiest of all ruined cities for 40 years. And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations. And I will spread them among the countries.
13. “‘This is what the Lord God says: After 40 years I will gather Egypt from the nations where they have been scattered.
14. I will bring back the Egyptian captives. I will make the Egyptians return to southern Egypt. They will return to the land that they came from. They will become a weak kingdom there.
15. It will be the weakest kingdom. It will never again rule other nations. I will make it so weak it will never again rule over the nations.