1Ezekiel
2He was from the district of Sarira, of the priests; and he died in the land of Chaldea, in the time of the captivity, after uttering many prophecies to those who were in Judea.
3He was slain by the leader of the Israelite exiles, who had been rebuked by him for his worship of idols;
4and they buried him in the field of Nahor, in the tomb of Shem and Arphaxad, the ancestors of Abraham.
5The tomb is a double cave, according to whose plan Abraham also made the tomb of Sarah in Hebron.
6It is called "double" because it has a winding (stairway) and there is an upper chamber hidden from the main floor, hung in the rock above the ground-level.
7This prophet gave to the people a sign, that they should pay attention to the river Chebar;
8when its waters should fail, they were to expect "the sickle of desolation to the ends of the earth" when it should overflow, the return to Jerusalem.
9While the saint was dwelling there, many kept coming to him;
10and on one occasion, when a throng had assembled to him, the Chaldeans feared an uprising and came upon them to destroy them.
11He made the water cease its flow, so that they could flee to the other side; but when the enemy ventured to pursue, they were drowned.
12Through his prayer he provided for them ample sustenance in fish which came of their own accord to be caught. Many who were at the point of death he cheered with the news of life coming to them from God.
13When the people were being destroyed by the enemy, he went to the hostile captains and so terrified them with marvels which he wrought that they ceased.
14It was then that he said to the people: "Are we indeed perishing? is our hope at an end?" and by the vision of the dry bones he persuaded them that there is hope for Israel both now and in the time to come.
15While he was there he showed to the people of Israel what was being done in Jerusalem and in the temple.
16He himself was borne away thence, and came to Jerusalem, for a rebuke to the faithless.
17Also after the manner of Moses he foresaw the fashion of the temple, with its walls and its broad surroundings, as Daniel also declared that it should be built.
18He pronounced judgment in Babylon on the tribes of Dan and Gad, because they dealt wickedly against the Lord,
19persecuting those who were keeping the law; and he wrought upon them this grievous wonder, that their children and all their cattle should be killed by serpents.
20He also foretold, that because of their sin Israel would not return to its land but would remain in Media, until the end of this evildoing.
21One of their number was the man who slew Ezekiel, for they opposed him all the days of his life.