11 No human foot will pass through it, and no animal’s foot will pass through it; it will be uninhabited for forty years.
12 I will turn the land of Egypt into a desolation in the midst of desolate lands; for forty years her cities will lie desolate in the midst of ruined cities. I will scatter Egypt among the nations and disperse them among foreign countries.
13 “‘For this is what the sovereign Lord says: At the end of forty years I will gather Egypt from the peoples where they were scattered.
14 I will restore the fortunes of Egypt, and will bring them back to the land of Pathros, to the land of their origin; there they will be an insignificant kingdom.
15 It will be the most insignificant of the kingdoms; it will never again exalt itself over the nations. I will make them so small that they will not rule over the nations.
16 It will never again be Israel’s source of confidence, but a reminder of how they sinned by turning to Egypt for help. Then they will know that I am the sovereign Lord.’”
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: