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.
16. The Israelites will never again depend on Egypt. Egypt’s punishment will remind the Israelites of their sin. They turned to Egypt for help and not to God. Then they will know that I am the Lord God.’”
17. It was the twenty-seventh year of our captivity, in the first month. It was on the first day of the month. The Lord spoke his word to me. He said:
18. “Human being, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army fight hard against Tyre. Every soldier’s head was rubbed bare. Every shoulder was rubbed raw. But Nebuchadnezzar and his army gained nothing from fighting Tyre.
19. So this is what the Lord God says: I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And Nebuchadnezzar will take away Egypt’s people. He will take Egypt’s wealth and its valuable things as pay for his army.
20. I have given Nebuchadnezzar the land of Egypt. It is a reward for working hard to defeat Egypt for me. That is what the Lord God says.
21. “On that day I will make Israel grow strong again. I will let you, Ezekiel, speak to them. Then they will know that I am the Lord God.”