“And I will make the rivers dry, and will sell the land into the hands of evil men. And I will make the land desolate, and all that is in it by the hand of strangers. I Yahweh have spoken it.”
Egypt would not only have to cope with invasion but with drought as the level of the Nile fell and many tributaries dried up. The irrigation canals, which required constant attention by the people, would be neglected and silt up. Furthermore as regularly happens in such a war there would be a rise of brigandage, to add to the people's troubles as the desolation continued through visiting armies. All this would be seen as Yahweh's doing.