They do not, however, use pools of ink or crystal balls. Things like that are the domain of witches and sooth-sayers, whom the Jewish Law condemns in no uncertain terms. Neither do they predict events which are set in stone or unavoidable. They give warnings about where we are headed. But prophets do more than predict the future.
Prophets are indeed a wild bunch.
The reading we heard from Ezekiel is very nearly the tamest part of the book. He then burns some of the hair, scatters some around the city, throws some into the wind and sews some into his clothes. John the Baptist lived in the desert wore camel's hair and ate bugs. Prophets earn their image as crazy people. But prophets are much more.