⁸ “Therefore this is what the Lord God says: I am going to bring a sword^(A) against you and wipe out man and animal from you. ⁹ The land of Egypt will be a desolate ruin.^(B) Then they will know that I am Yahweh. Because you^[a] said, ‘The Nile is my own; I made it,’ ¹⁰ therefore, I am against you and your Nile. I will turn the land of Egypt into ruins, a desolate waste from Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Cush. ¹¹ No human foot will pass through it, and no animal foot will pass through it.^(C) It will be uninhabited for 40 years. ¹² I will make the land of Egypt a desolation among^[b] desolate lands, and its cities will be a desolation among^[c] ruined cities^(D) for 40 years. I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them across the countries.^(E)

¹³ “For this is what the Lord God says: At the end of 40 years I will gather the Egyptians from the nations where they were dispersed.^{(F) 14} I will restore the fortunes of Egypt and bring them back to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin. There they will be a lowly kingdom.