Ezek 2:1-3:27 Ezekiel is called to be a prophet to the Jewish exiles living at Tel Abib (or Tel Aviv - ‘Hill of Spring’) beside the "River Chebar" (the Shatt en-Nil canal) in Babylonia (see the feature on Babylon).
Ezek 4:1-17 Ezekiel re-enacts the siege of Jerusalem by drawing a map of the city on a brick, and using an iron plate to represent the walls, siege ramps, trenches and battering rams.
Assyrians attack a city with a wheeled battering ram (British Museum)
Ezek 5:1-17 Ezekiel shaves off his beard and hair and divides it into three parts to represent what the LORD will do to the people of Jerusalem: “A third of you will die by disease or be destroyed by hunger inside your walls. A third will fall dead by the sword outside your walls. And a third I will scatter in every direction as I chase them with a sword.” (Ezekiel 5:12)
Ezek 6:1-14 The LORD condemns the Israelites for their idolatry. “I will bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your places of idol worship. Your altars will be destroyed and your incense altars broken down. I will lay the dead bodies of the Israelites in front of their idols.” (Ezekiel 6:3-5)
Ezek 7:1-27 Ezekiel prophesies the downfall of the people of Judah. “The end has come! Disaster has come for you people who live in the land.” (Ezekiel 7:6-7)