9. The land of Egypt shall become a desolation and waste. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.Because you said, “The Nile is mine, and I have made it,”
10. therefore, I am against you and against your rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Ethiopia.
11. No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast pass through it, nor shall it be inhabited for forty years.
12. Thus I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be desolate for forty years. And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and will disperse them among the countries.
13. For thus says the Lord God: At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples wherever they were scattered.
14. And I will turn the fortunes of Egypt and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their origin, and there they shall be a debased kingdom.
15. It shall be the basest of the kingdoms, and it shall exalt itself no more above the nations. For I will diminish them so that they shall rule over the nations no more.
16. It shall be the confidence of the house of Israel no more, bringing to mind the iniquity of their having turned to Egypt. But they shall know that I am the Lord God.
17. In the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
18. Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to labor hard against Tyre. Every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled. Yet he and his army had no wages from Tyre for the labor that he had done against it.
19. Therefore thus says the Lord God: I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And he shall carry off her wealth and take her spoil and take her prey. And it shall be wages for his army.
20. I have given him the land of Egypt for his labor with which he labored against it, because they acted for Me, says the Lord God.
21. On that day I will cause the horn of the house of Israel to spring forth, and I will open your mouth in their midst. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.