Thus Says the LORD: God Speaks Through His Servants the Prophets

Volume II: Restoration & Redemption

Lesson 2 Jeremiah After the Fall of Jerusalem
the Second Book of the Kings 25:22–26
the Book of Jeremiah 15:15–21
the Book of Jeremiah 18:18–23
the Book of Jeremiah 20:7–13
the Book of Jeremiah 29:10–13
the Book of Jeremiah 31:31–34
the Book of Jeremiah 32:1–8
the Book of Jeremiah 32:36–41

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)*
New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE)*
Catechism of the Catholic Church
ex libris (in our library)
glossary for Thus Says the LORD—Volume II
cross references in Thus Says the LORD—Volume II
next lesson: Ezekiel: A Prophet & Priest in Exile

This online supplemental material coordinates with the lesson on pages 14–21 of Thus Says the LORD: God Speaks Through His Servants the Prophets—Volume II: Restoration & Redemption.

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and return not thither but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”
—the Book of Isaiah 55:10–11 (RSVCE)**

welcome to Volume II of our in-depth study of the biblical prophets
We invite you to check out the sample first lesson and video from Volume II of this Turning to God’s Word two-part Catholic Bible study. Our online pages link to the free related lesson videos, a glossary, and cross references in the biblical text, and include maps, additional commentary, and prayers based on the primary Scripture in each lesson. Thus Says the LORD: God Speaks Through His Servants the Prophets—Volume II: Restoration & Redemption contains 23 lessons and has been granted an imprimatur. It may be purchased from our website shop. The companion 28-lesson Volume I: A Kingdom Divided also is available for purchase. If you have a Bible-study question or comment, click on the “ask us your question” or “what do you think” button on any study page.

open with prayer
It’s always wise to begin any Bible study with prayer, whether reading the Scriptures alone or meeting with others in a discussion study group. You can pray using your own words or use one of the opening prayers on our website. We especially like the following:

Lord Jesus, you promised to send your Holy Spirit
to teach us all things.
As we read and study your word today,
allow it to touch our hearts and change our lives. Amen.

let’s review—the Second Book of the Kings 17:1–41, the Second Book of the Kings 24:8—25:15, and the Second Book of the Kings 25:18–21
Lesson 1 How the Divided Kingdom Came to an End looks at reasons underlying the fall of the northern and southern kingdoms when Israel was conquered by Assyria in 722–721 B.C. and Judah was conquered by Babylon in 587–586 B.C. Descendants of Jacob living in both kingdoms had turned away from the LORD—those in the northern kingdom in favor of worshiping local pagan idols, while those in the southern kingdom because they additionally assumed that God never would allow harm to come to them while the LORD’s house was located in Jerusalem. When the inhabitants of Judah are taken captive to Babylon, their exile sets the stage for an intense period in which many prophets begin appearing with messages from God. Descendants of Jacob ethnically similar to those being deported continue to live in Judah at that time, but they aren’t inclined to resist Babylonian rule or to devote themselves in service to the LORD. Most scholars believe that the worship practices of those who remained in Judah combined elements of many local religions. Meanwhile, those who go into exile in Babylon take their traditions with them, written on scrolls as well as on their hearts in the form of memories.

map notes—Jeremiah’s long & interesting run as a prophet
When the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem, they freed Jeremiah and allowed him to choose his residence. He elected to go to Mizpah with Gedaliah, who had been appointed governor of the territory. In a very short time, Gedaliah was assassinated by a disgruntled member of Judah’s royal family. Fearing reprisals from the Babylonians, the survivors fled to Egypt, pressuring Jeremiah to accompany them. Judah saw six rulers in the 23 years between the deaths of Josiah and Gedaliah. The house of David, prophesied to reign forever, was defeated. The Temple at Jerusalem was destroyed. The land, considered a perpetual inheritance, was lost. The people were forced into exile. The one constant that remained during this acute religious crisis was the prophet Jeremiah, who as God’s spokesman was able to interpret the signs of the time—first as warnings of inevitable dire consequences for the people’s failure to uphold their covenant with God, and then later as hope for a better future. Click on the map (right) to enlarge it. The original map is on page 20 of Thus Says the LORD: God Speaks Through His Servants the Prophets—Volume II: Restoration & Redemption. 

more than just another crusty old coot (01:15:51)
In the video for this lesson, Turning to God’s Word author Matthew Phelps discusses limitations of an academic approach to the study of history. Looking at events through the lens of faith allows us to see God’s hand at work, but this requires that we view things from a prayerful perspective. Studying prophecy isn’t clean and neat in the same way as studying a historical narrative. The prophet Jeremiah led a frustrating life. Because he was called to deliver bad news, he knew in advance that he’d be persecuted. In Scripture, God’s people appear to be more at odds with Jeremiah than they are with Babylon. The flip side is that Jeremiah is unable to do anything except prophesy. This is a consequence of following God, and it applies to Christians as well as to Old Testament prophets. God acts in history through people behaving in typically human ways. The prophets speak with God’s voice to explain what’s happening in spiritual terms. The opening to the Letter to the Hebrews 1:1–2 describes how this works now: “In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets;  but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the ages.”

The Scripture ranges for the videos that accompany this Catholic Bible study match the ranges for the sets of questions in Thus Says the LORD: God Speaks Through His Servants the Prophets—Volume II: Restoration & Redemption. You can follow along as Turning to God’s Word author Matthew Phelps discusses Lesson 2, “Jeremiah: After the Fall of Jerusalem,” on pages 14–21 in the study book. 

also addressed in the video
The online study page for Lesson 1, “How the Divided Kingdom Came to an End,” contains a Q&A about descendants of Jacob living outside of the Promised Land prior to the fall of the northern and southern kingdoms. In the video overview for Lesson 2, Turning to God’s Word author Matthew Phelps discusses how the murder of Gedaliah may have led to synagogues eventually being built in locations outside territory formerly occupied by the kingdoms of Judah and Israel.

Jerusalem wasn’t always the central worship location
The Book of Joshua 18:1 records that after the descendants of Jacob entered the land of Canaan, “the whole congregation of the sons of Israel assembled at Shiloh, and set up the tent of meeting there … .” The First Book of Samuel 3:15 suggests that at some point during the Tabernacle’s stay at Shiloh, this tent sanctuary housing the ark of the covenant seems to have been enclosed within a compound or replaced with a standing structure that had permanent doors. As the first major religious center for the descendants of Jacob in the land of Canaan, the structure in Shiloh served as a precursor to Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem. The people assembled at Shiloh for feasts and sacrifices, and the Book of Joshua 18:10 indicates that it was at Shiloh where lots were cast under Joshua’s guidance to determine tribal territories in the Promised Land. The twenty-first chapter in the Book of Joshua records that Shiloh also was the location where lots were cast to determine the Levitical cities.

pray with the Psalms—God forsook his dwelling at Shiloh
After the ark was captured by the Philistines and then returned to the descendants of Jacob, it never was taken back to Shiloh. This is referenced in Psalm 78:60-61: “[God] forsook his dwelling at Shiloh, the tent where he dwelt among men, and delivered his power to captivity, his glory to the hand of the foe.” The Israelites seem to have lost confidence in the LORD as their protector after the ark fell into enemy hands. This is evident in their desire to have an earthly king. The city of Nob is named in the twenty-first chapter in the First Book of Samuel as the place where David, fleeing from Saul, is aided by the priest Ahimelech. Scholars hypothesize that any priests in Eli’s line who survived the death of Eli and his sons migrated to Nob, which likely replaced Shiloh as the primary worship location prior to David’s conquest of Jerusalem. Prayed at Thursday Vigils (Week II) Psalm 78 will be included as part of Lesson 23 Hidden Lessons of the Past in the Turning to God’s Word Catholic Bible study Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church—Volume II: Vigils, Day Prayer & Compline, scheduled for publication in late summer of 2025.

A description of the building of Solomon’s Temple, sometimes referred to as the First Temple, is found in the sixth chapter in the First Book of the Kings. There the Temple is called a “house” throughout, emphasizing that it is to be God’s dwelling place on earth. The seventh chapter in the First Book of the Kings, however, focuses on a description of the house that Solomon simultaneously was building for himself. Of special interest is Solomon’s motivation regarding construction of the Temple. Solomon also is attempting to build for himself the eternal house God promised to provide for the future heir of David who would build a house for the LORD, a promise that’s found in the Second Book of Samuel 7:8–13. In the First Book of the Kings 8:13, after the Temple is finished, Solomon boasts that he surely has built the LORD a lofty house, a place for God to dwell forever. You can learn more about Solomon’s construction of the first Temple in Lesson 25 Solomon Builds the Temple in the Turning to God’s Word Catholic Bible study The United Kingdom: Saul, David & Solomon Foreshadow Christ the King.

what about Jeremiah before the Exile?
You can learn more about the final kings who reigned over the southern kingdom of Judah during  Jeremiah’s lifetime—Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and Zedekiah—(including the meaning of their names) by looking them up in our online glossary. All of the proper nouns in the biblical text for Thus Says the LORD: God Speaks Through His Servants the Prophets—Volume II: Restoration & Redemption are listed in alphabetical order.

what about Baruch? 
The thirty-sixth chapter in the Book of Jeremiah describes Baruch reading Jeremiah’s words in the Temple, which had become off-limits to Jeremiah because of his unwelcome message that God was going to allow Jerusalem to fall. Much of the Book of Jeremiah is thought to have been compiled by Baruch, Jeremiah’s secretary and faithful friend. The Book of Baruch, a deuterocanonical work accepted as inspired Scripture by Catholics but not included in most Protestant Bibles, traditionally also is attributed to the scribe Baruch, although most scholars believe that it actually was written much later around the period of the Maccabees in 200–100 B.C. For more information about the deuterocanonical books found in the Old Testament, see how do Catholic and Protestant Bibles differ? The Book of Baruch will be our focus in Lesson 9, “A Dislocated People Turn to the LORD.”

read the Catechism—only God can forgive sin
In the Book of Jeremiah 18:23, the prophet expresses an attitude that, while not in keeping with behavior modeled by Jesus on the cross, still is one to which many Christians can relate. Jeremiah has plenty of reasons to be unforgiving toward those who’ve been plotting to slay him. The prophet’s prayer entreats God to take action on his behalf: “Forgive not their iniquity, nor blot out their sin from your sight. Let them be overthrown before you; deal with them in the time of your anger.” Despite the difficult situation in which he finds himself, Jeremiah nevertheless recognizes that only God is able to demonstrate divine power through the forgiveness of sin—even as the prophet asks God not to forgive those who’ve been persecuting him. You can learn more about why it is that God has this power by reading paragraph 431 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and other paragraphs pertaining to sin.

431     In the history of salvation God was not content to deliver Israel “out of the house of bondage” by bringing them out of Egypt. He also saves them from their sin. Because sin is always an offense against God, only he can forgive it. For this reason Israel, becoming more and more aware of the universality of sin, will no longer be able to seek salvation except by invoking the name of the Redeemer God.

vengeance—you could look it up in our archives
The eighteenth chapter in the Book of Jeremiah records the prophet asking God to enact vengeance against those who’ve been making his life miserable. Jeremiah has been experiencing more than slight opposition—people have been trying to kill him because they found the message that he was delivering from God to be highly offensive. Jeremiah’s request seems to fly in the face of what Jesus teaches in the Gospel According to Matthew 18:21–22 about forgiving others 70 time seven. In Lost in Translation, an online column that can help readers connect with ideas expressed in the original languages of the Scriptures, Turning to God’s Word author Matthew Phelps looks at the first appearance of the word “vengeance” in the Bible, found in the fourth chapter in the book of Genesis. The Psalms especially express a desire for God to enact vengeance on the enemies of his people. You can learn more about the Psalms by viewing a sample lesson from the Turning to God’s Word Catholic Bible study Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church—Volume I: Lauds & Vespers. New Lost in Translation entries are posted on Mondays, and past entries are archived on our website. Contact us if you’d like to receive Lost in Translation by email every week. 

read Scripture in context
The Book of Jeremiah 29:11 often is cited as a passage of hope, which it is:  “For I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” There’s more to it than that, however, as the immediately preceding verse makes clear, pointing out that the plans God has for his people aren’t going to come to pass until after they’ve spent 70 years in exile in Babylon. In the Book of Jeremiah 29:12–13, the prophet makes it abundantly clear that any plan for a hope-filled future is dependent upon God’s people repenting and seeking with all their hearts a sincere relationship with the LORD. Jeremiah’s prophecy that the people will spend 70 years in exile connects the amount of time the descendants of Jacob will spend in Babylon with the requirement in the book of Leviticus 25:1–7 that every seventh year be set aside as a sabbatical year, a stipulation that God’s people ignored during the 490 years they lived in the land of Canaan preceding captivity in Babylon.

WHAT DO YOU THINK is consoling about this passage?  
The hopeful section of the Book of Jeremiah—chapters 30 and 31—often is referred to as the “book of consolation” and includes this frequently quoted passage from the Book of Jeremiah 31:31–34: “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each man teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

?  Describe ways in which Jeremiah’s Old Testament prophecy points ahead to Jesus Christ.
?  In the Old Testament, the inevitable consequences of sin are seen as the cause of the fall of Jerusalem, the destruction of the Temple, and the deportation of God’s people. The LORD’s promise to forget future sin offers a way for his people to continue their covenant relationship with him. The cornerstone of Christian theology, the New Covenant appears throughout the New Testament. Locate a place in the New Testament in which Jesus specifically refers to the New Covenant. What exactly is Jesus talking about there?
?  Consider whether Jesus intends his audience to make the connection between his New Covenant and Jeremiah’s prophecy.
?  The Letter to the Hebrews 9:18 addresses how it is that Jesus’ New Covenant takes away sin: “Hence even the first covenant was not ratified without blood.” Explain how it is that Jesus’ blood ratifies the New Covenant.
?  Consider why the consequences of sin don’t disappear after Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.

Q&A—who are the prophets of today?
This is an excellent question from a leader of one of our Bible study groups whose members are studying Thus Says the LORD: God Speaks Through His Servants the Prophets—Volume II: Restoration & Redemption. The question gets right to very pertinent point about why it’s important for Christians to be aware of the role of prophets in the past and what role prophecy plays in the present-day Church. The following response is by Turning to God’s Word author Matthew Phelps.

Q: A participant in my group has a question: Who are the prophets of today? Some thoughts: (1) Jesus was the last prophet because he’s the fulfillment of the Messianic Old Testament prophecies; (2) we’re all called to be priests, prophets, and kings; (3) being a saint doesn’t necessarily make you a prophet. 

what Matthew says: I like the direction these thoughts are heading. In the Old Testament, we can see the separation of roles and responsibilities into priest, prophet, and king—with some major figures filling more than one role. The primary role of the Old Testament prophets was to make sure people understood what God wanted them to do. These ancient prophets provided both direction and accountability. Jesus is the last prophet in the Old Testament sense because all three roles converge in him, and he offers the final word to humanity about what God wants us to do. Jesus’ word in that regard still is binding.

Jesus did set up a new institution—the Church—to continue the prophetic role of interpreting and teaching God’s word, and Jesus gave his Church the authority to do this. In that respect, I see the Church as extending the role of Jesus Christ as prophet, but this of course only occurs when the Church speaks with that authoritative voice through the exercise of the Magisterium. So I suppose that all three of these ideas are right. Jesus was the last prophet. The pope has the authority to speak as an extension of Jesus’ role as prophet (as does the greater Magisterium), but even the pope doesn’t have a guarantee of divine authority regarding anything else that he says.

a study leader shares her thoughts
The following exchange veers from our standard question-and-answer format, but others may find it helpful. It comes from a study leader in a group planning to tackle one of our other studies.

comment: Thank you for your online study pages. They’re such a bonus. In our Bible study more questions come up in our leaders’ group than in my individual group about why you ask a certain question, or what you might be thinking, or where you are leading with your questions. I’ve often been able to point to the online study pages for direction and clues. I need to remind the other group leaders and myself that you’re trying to get us to think and pray about Scripture and its impact in our lives rather than limiting Bible study to an assignment that can be completed with a single academic answer.

response: We appreciate your comments, especially since we know that these online study pages aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. We go to some effort to provide optional information here and in the videos for participants who might be interested.

Matthew, Tami, and I feel that it’s important for people to know that sometimes asking the right questions is more valuable than having all the answers. It took us at Turning to God’s Word some time to get to this idea. The bottom line is that no one is able to hold onto information that they’re spoon-fed the same way that they can remember and live it when they have to dig concepts out for themselves. This is a big departure from the popular scholarly model of Bible study where everyone expects an expert to tell them what Scripture means, what’s important, and why. Sometimes when one of us sits in with a group, someone will ask what we were going for with a particular question. People almost always find it shocking when they’re told that we were thinking we wouldn’t mind hearing a discussion about what others think about the passage in question.

Studying any of the Old Testament writings presents some special stumbling blocks. These books introduce images and ideas that we might or might not recognize as also occurring in the New Testament. There’s a danger that we become so concerned with understanding the Old Testament message as it originally would have been received that we miss noticing that everything that happens in the Old Testament points toward Jesus. Then there’s the other side of that danger, in which we concentrate so much on a Christian interpretation that we miss important historical information that can shed light on Jesus and what he came to do. Finally, there’s a very real danger that we begin to view Jesus as the end point and miss seeing that the work of the Church only begins with Jesus’ death and Resurrection.

It’s easy to get derailed in one area and miss the big picture, which is why group discussion of the questions is so helpful. If one person is focusing on Old Testament history, someone else may be looking at the way the writing points to Jesus. Another person may be concentrating on how these ancient books are relevant in today’s world. Combining these different points of view gives us a clearer picture of what God is saying to us in Scripture.

more about the online study pages & videos
We hope that some people will find Bible study so compelling that they’ll want more information than realistically fits in the study books. We want to provide a vehicle for extra material and an easy way for people to ask questions and make comments, especially with so many contradictory views floating around on the Internet and elsewhere.

It’s also our intent that the books, the online study pages, and the videos each can stand alone if need be. We don’t want financial concerns or the lack of a compatible group to prevent anyone from reading and praying with the Bible. We know that there are people in our groups who never look at the website or watch the videos, just as there are people who do those things and more. The only really necessary part of studying the Bible, however, is reading the Bible. Everything else is secondary.

The caution we would add is that if you’re limiting your Bible study experience to reading the Bible—and you’re aware that you don’t understand what you’re reading—you probably should take a look at the commentaries in the study book and on the online study pages, and also listen to any related videos. Turning to God’s Word author Matthew Phelps frequently addresses some of the more obvious difficulties in those places. If you’ve read all of our related commentaries and watched our related videos and still have questions, shoot us an email. We’re always happy to discuss Scripture, and some of our most cherished insights have come about in conversation with others.

the best Catholic commentary about Scripture
To find out more about how Church teaching is supported by Scripture passages in Thus Says the LORD: God Speaks Through His Servants the Prophets—Volume II: Restoration & Redemption, check out the Index of Citations in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Links (Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition [RSVCE*]) to the primary Scripture passages in the lesson and relevant paragraphs in the Catechism are provided here. Not every passage in the biblical text for this Catholic Bible study is referenced in a Catechism paragraph, however, including the following passages from this lesson: the Second Book of the Kings 25:22–26, the Book of Jeremiah 18:18–23, the Book of Jeremiah 29:10–13, the Book of Jeremiah 32:1–8, and the Book of Jeremiah 32:36–41.

the Book of Jeremiah 15:15–18—paragraph 2584
the Book of Jeremiah 29:7–18—paragraph 2584
the Book of Jeremiah 31:1–40—paragraph 1611
the Book of Jeremiah 31:31–34—paragraphs 64, 715, 762, 1965
the Book of Jeremiah 31:33—paragraphs 368, 580, 2713

ways our glossary might prove helpful
In addition to providing extra information about geographical locations, our glossary also points out persons and places mentioned in the biblical text under multiple names or spellings. If you can remember a name but aren’t sure in which lesson it shows up, you can find it in the glossary, which lists every proper noun that appears in the primary biblical text for Thus Says the LORD: God Speaks Through His Servants the Prophets—Volume II: Restoration & Redemption.

to learn more, read more Scripture
It can help to check out the cross references listed in Scripture, but looking them up is time-consuming. To make that part easier, we’ve compiled the cross references from the Revised Standard Version Second Catholic Edition (RSV2CE)—the translation that we reprint in our study books. That list can be found at the top of every online study page accompanying this study, and it includes links to each of the cross references in the primary biblical text for Thus Says the LORD: God Speaks Through His Servants the Prophets—Volume II: Restoration & Redemption.

don’t forget about our indexes & extra online material
If you’re trying to locate information about a specific Scripture passage, you can look it up in the index at the back of the study book or sample lesson. If you want to find a particular commentary, you can look up its title in the topics index. To learn more about another book of the Bible for which there’s a Turning to God’s Word study, visit the online study directories to read the commentaries and watch any accompanying videos. Finally, if you have a question or would like to make a comment about any of our studies, you can use one of the “ask us your question” or “what do you think” buttons to email our authors.

ex libris—Church documents & books about religious topics
Link to magisterial documents referred to in our Bible studies at ex libris—magisterial documents. This listing includes significant recent encyclicals as well as a number of historical Church documents. Recommended books related to Scripture study can be found at ex libris—main bookshelf.

wondering how to pronounce some of these words?
The following links are to readings from the New International Version (NIV) Bible. To listen, open one of the links and click on the audio icon above the printed text. Although not taken from the translations used in our study materials, the NIV readings provide an audio guide to pronunciation of words in this lesson’s primary biblical texts. A close online version of the translation of the Bible used in Catholic liturgy in the United States as well as an audio guide for daily Mass readings for the current month can be found on the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

the Second Book of the Kings 25:22–26 (NIV)
the Book of Jeremiah 15:15–21 (NIV)
the Book of Jeremiah 18:18–23 (NIV)
the Book of Jeremiah 20:7–13 (NIV)
the Book of Jeremiah 29:10–13 (NIV)
the Book of Jeremiah 31:31–34 (NIV)
the Book of Jeremiah 32:1–8 (NIV)
the Book of Jeremiah 32:36–41 (NIV)

close with Bible-based prayer related to this lesson
Many of our Catholic study groups like to conclude their discussions with a prayer based on the scriptural focus of their lesson, and some participants include Scripture-specific prayer in their individual study. If you’re uncomfortable composing your own Bible-based prayers you can follow our four easy steps, or you can use the following  prayer based on this lesson’s biblical texts.

O Lord, God of hosts, you give us your words
to be our joy and our heart’s delight.
Fulfill your promises to put your law within our hearts,
to forgive our iniquities, and to remember our sins no more.
We ask this in unity with the Holy Spirit and in the name of Jesus Christ,
who gave us a new commandment of love
and a sacrament of forgiveness. Amen.

Lesson 3 Ezekiel: A Prophet & Priest in Exile—the Book of Ezekiel 1:1–10, the Book of Ezekiel 1:22—2:10, the Book of Ezekiel 3:1–11, the Book of Ezekiel 9:1–10, the Book of Ezekiel 10:1–5, the Book of Ezekiel 10:18–19, the Book of Ezekiel 11:14–25, the Book of Ezekiel 18:1–9, the Book of Ezekiel 18:20, the Book of Ezekiel 18:29, the Book of Ezekiel 33:7–9, the Book of Ezekiel 33:21–29, the Book of Ezekiel 34:1–10, and the Book of Ezekiel 34:22–24
Lesson 1 How the Divided Kingdom Came to an End—the Second Book of the Kings 17:1–41, the Second Book of the Kings 24:8—25:15, and the Second Book of the Kings 25:18–21

you also may like Volume I of our prophets study
Thus Says the LORD: God Speaks Through His Servants the Prophets—Volume I: A Kingdom Divided examines the prophets in their historical context based on the First and Second Books of the Kings and writings of biblical prophets before the Babylonian Exile in 586 B.C. It builds on The United Kingdom of Israel: Saul, David & Solomon Foreshadow Christ the King, an in-depth look at the kingdoms ruled by Saul, David, and Solomon—with special emphasis on David as a type of Jesus. Click on the book’s cover to view a sample lesson.

start a Turning to God’s Word Bible study
Thank you for your interest in Thus Says the LORD: God Speaks Through His Servants the Prophets—Volume II: Restoration & Redemption. You can find information on this website about beginning a Turning to God’s Word Bible study at start a Bible study. Tami, Matthew, and I are available to answer your questions and address any of your concerns. Contact us if you’d like to start one of our studies or have your schedule listed with other TtGW study groups on our website. —Jennifer

*There are seven deuterocanonical books in the Old Testament—the Books of Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, and First and Second Maccabees, as well as some passages in the Books of Esther and Daniel. Protestants usually refer to these works as “apocryphal,” a word that means “outside the (Protestant) canon” because they’re excluded from most Protestant Bibles. The word “deuterocanonical” means “second canon”; Catholics use that word to refer to any section of the Catholic Old Testament for which there are no extant, or existing, Hebrew manuscripts. All of the deuterocanonical books appear in the Septuagint, the earliest remaining versions of which date to the 1st century B.C. This Greek translation of the Old Testament was in common use by Jews at the time of Jesus—but the same books aren’t found in existing Hebrew manuscripts, which aren’t as old as the oldest version of the Septuagint. Learn more by reading How Do Catholic & Protestant Bibles Differ?

Turning to God’s Word printed Bible studies use the 2006 Revised Standard Version Second Catholic Edition (RSV2CE) translation for all Scripture references except those to the Psalms, which are taken from The Abbey Psalms and Canticles, prepared by the Benedictine monks of Conception Abbey and published in 2020 by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). All Scripture links for the online study pages of Thus Says the LORD: God Speaks Through His Servants the Prophets—Volume II: Restoration & Redemption are to the 1966 Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE) translation. The New International Version (NIV) audio recordings follow the same chapter and verse numbering as the RSV Catholic translations, but the NIV doesn’t include deuterocanonical passages.

The 1966 RSVCE uses archaic pronouns and verb forms such as “thee,” “thou,” “didst” in the Psalms and in direct quotations attributed to God. The 2006 RSV2CE replaces those with more accessible English. The few significant translation changes in the RSV2CE include rendering almah as “virgin” in the Book of Isaiah 7:14 and restoring the term “begotten” in the Gospel According to John 3:16.

Numbering varies for some passages in this Bible study. Turning to God’s Word studies (print and online) follow the numbering in the Revised Standard Version Catholic translations (RSVCE and RSV2CE). Discrepancies in the New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE) are noted in the Index of Scripture Citations in the study book and the online sample.

You can learn more about the Psalms by viewing a sample lesson from the Turning to God’s Word Catholic Bible study Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church—Volume I: Lauds & Vespers. The second part of that study, Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church—Volume II: Vigils, Day Prayer & Compline, is scheduled for publication in 2025. Some verse numbers may vary in different translations of the Psalms.

**The Book of Isaiah 55:10-11 (RSV2CE) reads: “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I intend, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”