In the thirtieth year, by the river Kebar — the heavens were opened
Forty-eight chapters, read four ways.
A priest deported to Babylon in 597 BC, prophesying to people who were sure the exile was temporary. The book falls in three parts, and the hinge is chapter 33, when a survivor arrives with the news that Jerusalem has fallen. Everything before it is argument against a false hope; everything after it is the rebuilding of a true one.
The deeper arc runs on the glory of God: it leaves the temple in chapters 10 and 11, by the east gate, and it comes back through the same gate in chapter 43. The last three words of the book are the name of the city.
Music by torstefan