3. Speak to him and say: This is what the Lord God says:Look, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt,the great monster lying in the middle of his Nile,who says, ‘My Nile is my own;I made it for myself.’
4. I will put hooks in your jaws and make the fish of your streamscling to your scales.I will haul you upfrom the middle of your Nile,and all the fish of your streamswill cling to your scales.
5. I will leave you in the desert, you and all the fish of your streams.You will fall on the open groundand will not be taken awayor gathered for burial. I have given youto the beasts of the earthand the birds of the sky as food.
6. Then all the inhabitants of Egyptwill know that I am Yahweh,for they have been a staff made of reedto the house of Israel.
7. When Israel grasped you by the hand,you splintered, tearing all their shoulders;when they leaned on you,you shattered and made all their hips unsteady.
8. “Therefore this is what the Lord God says: I am going to bring a sword against you and wipe out man and animal from you.
9. The land of Egypt will be a desolate ruin. Then they will know that I am Yahweh. Because you 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. It will be uninhabited for 40 years.
12. I will make the land of Egypt a desolation among desolate lands, and its cities will be a desolation among ruined cities for 40 years. I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them across the countries.
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.
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.