Thus Says the LORD: God Speaks Through His Servants the Prophets
Volume II: Restoration & Redemption
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
the Book of Ezekiel 34:22–24
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: The People Who Remain in Judah Lament Their Tragic Situation
This online supplemental material coordinates with the lesson on pages 22–30 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 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, and the Book of Jeremiah 32:36–41
In Lesson 2 Jeremiah After the Fall of Jerusalem, the prophet who repeatedly warned that the southern kingdom of Judah was in danger of being conquered by enemies because of the people’s failure to honor their covenant with God now begins delivering a different message. The unimaginable disaster has taken place, and thousands of people from Judah have been exiled to Babylon. Although Jeremiah has been persecuted for speaking God’s word, the prophet announces that the Babylonian Exile will bring about a positive change in the way the former inhabitants of Judah view their relationship with God. Jeremiah prophesies that the LORD plans to enter into a new and everlasting covenant with all of the descendants of Jacob—those of the house of Israel as well as those of the house of Judah. Jeremiah foretells that a key component of this New Covenant will be the forgiveness of sins.
map notes—Ezekiel becomes a prophet to God’s people in Exile
Jehoiachin (Jeconiah) became king of the southern kingdom in 596 B.C. when his father died and a number of Jerusalem’s prominent residents were deported to Babylon. He reigned only three months before he and many who had remained in Jerusalem also were carried off. The Book of Ezekiel 1:1—2:10 
records that it was during this period of the Exile that Ezekiel, dwelling with the captives, was called to become a prophet to the LORD’s people who’d been forced to leave their homeland. Although Zedekiah was appointed by Babylon to rule Judah after Jehoiachin, the prophet Ezekiel refused to recognize Zedekiah as a legitimate king. Key events in the Book of Ezekiel are dated according to the number of years Jehoiachin was in exile in Babylon. It was under Zedekiah that the southern kingdom was completely defeated and the Temple destroyed in 587–586 B.C. Click on the map (right) to enlarge it. The original map is on page 28 of Thus Says the LORD: God Speaks Through His Servants the Prophets—Volume II: Restoration & Redemption.
about those geopolitical boxes
Every lesson in Thus Says the LORD: God Speaks Through His Servants the Prophets—Volume II: Restoration & Redemption includes a tan commentary box labeled “Geopolitics.” These boxes provide historical perspective that isn’t covered in the biblical text—although the first few lessons in Volume II touch on material included toward the end of Volume I: A Kingdom Divided,. The point of “An Exiled King” on page 27 of the study book is to remind readers of details about the reigns of Jehoiachin (Jeconiah) and Zedekiah during the final years before the southern kingdom of Judah fell to Babylon, and to call attention to the prophet Ezekiel’s attitude toward these two kings. The first volume in this 
Turning to God’s Word Catholic Bible study, Thus Says the LORD: God Speaks Through His Servants the Prophets—Volume I: A Kingdom Divided, covers the period of time after the death of Solomon and before the Babylonian Exile. The twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth chapters in the Second Book of the Kings 
focus on Jehoiachin and Zedekiah, and information about both kings is included as well in the online glossary for Volume II: Restoration & Redemption.
don’t miss this detail about the timing of the Book of Ezekiel
It can be easy for readers to overlook that Ezekiel begins prophesying in Babylon at the same time that Jeremiah (whose prophecies were covered in Lesson 2) was active just prior to the fall of the southern kingdom of Judah. Even though Ezekiel was taken to Babylon in 597 B.C., Zedekiah is ruling as king in 
Judah, and a large number of descendants of Jacob still live in Jerusalem. The Temple built by Solomon still is standing. When Ezekiel is shown a vision of God departing from the Temple and from Jerusalem, the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians hasn’t happened yet. The other exiles in Babylon with Ezekiel at the time have no way of determining that he is indeed a legitimate prophet, and they don’t really believe that God ever will allow Jerusalem to fall and the Temple to be destroyed. When it actually happens (the Book of Ezekiel 33:21 describes Ezekiel learning about it while captive in Babylon), Ezekiel’s status changes drastically. The other exiles have to accept that God must have shown him the vision of the LORD departing from the Temple and from Jerusalem. The positive aspect is that now there’s a chance they’ll listen to God’s message. Repentance becomes a real possibility. The chart (right) shows prophets and rulers of the northern and southern kingdoms prior to the Babylonian Exile, including the final rulers of the southern kingdom of Judah during the Exile, which occurred in waves. The chart, which can be found on page 13 in Thus Says the LORD: God Speaks Through His Servants the Prophets—Volume II: Restoration & Redemption, can be enlarged by clicking on it. It also appears on the back page in Volume I: A Kingdom Divided. To learn more about the timing of the Exile, review “The Babylonian Exile in Waves” on page 17 in Volume II: Restoration & Redemption.
you wouldn’t want these angels on your Christmas tree (01:01:02)
In the video for Lesson 3, “Ezekiel: A Prophet & Priest in Exile,” Turning to God’s Word author Matthew Phelps explains 
that the way the angels in the prophet’s complex vision are described (as four living creatures in the first chapter in the Book of Ezekiel and as cherubim in the tenth chapter) seems to depend on what they’re doing. Ezekiel’s angels combine a manifestation of the glory of God with the mission that the LORD has given them. One effective way to interpret Ezekiel’s complicated and rather bizarre vision concerns the angels’ movement—every direction is forward, which 
tells us something important about God. Although the image breaks down visually, functionally everything is in front of God’s vision in all space all of the time.
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 3, “Ezekiel: A Prophet & Priest in Exile,” on pages 22–30 in the study book.
biblical vocabulary—firmament
In the prophet’s description of his vision of heaven in the first chapter in the Book of Ezekiel, he mentions a firmament several times. Because the word firmament includes the word firm, it sometimes is assumed that a firmament is something solid. Instead, it refers to the sky or vault of heaven.
about the four living creatures
“Four Living Creatures” on page 28 in the study book Thus Says the LORD: God Speaks Through His Servants the Prophets—Volume II: Restoration & Redemption looks at the similarities between the heavenly beings that appear in Ezekiel’s vision and the four living creatures that show up throughout the book of Revelation. While these four beings seem to have been adapted to represent the four Evangelists who wrote the New Testament Gospels—Matthew as a man, Mark as a lion, Luke as an angel, and John as an eagle—it should be obvious that they represent something different in Ezekiel’s vision, which predates Christianity. The number four points to the four corners of the earth, which ancient Hebrew cosmology saw as the far bounds of the world, suggesting that these creatures originally may have been intended to represent all of Creation. Read the Book of Ezekiel 1:4–10. 
With their many eyes looking in all directions, what might these four living creatures be able to see? The Turning to God’s Word Catholic Bible study The Revelation of Jesus Christ: The Faithful Witness looks at the final book of the Bible in terms of Old Testament prophecy.
read the Catechism—what’s the glory of the LORD that Ezekiel sees?
In the Book of Ezekiel 1:28, the prophet, who’s been exiled to Babylon, describes his vision of the glory of God: “Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.”
You can learn more about God’s glory, which also will be a major theme in Lesson 5 Ezekiel’s Vision of a New Temple, by reading Paragraph 705 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which associates the glory of God with something usually thought of as visual, the likeness of God. It’s through his Passion and death that Jesus restores for men and women the likeness of God the Father, or God’s glory, which Church teaching identifies with the Holy Spirit, the giver of life. It’s significant that theologically, image and likeness don’t have the same meaning. Consider what bearing this theological distinction has on your faith.
705 Disfigured by sin and death, man remains “in the image of God,” in the image of the Son, but is deprived “of the glory of God,” of his “likeness.” The promise made to Abraham inaugurates the economy of salvation, at the culmination of which the Son himself will assume that ‘image’ and restore it in the Father’s “likeness” by giving it again its Glory, the Spirit who is “the giver of life.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK about the prophet being the message?
In the second chapter in the Book of Ezekiel, the LORD initially instructs Ezekiel to say one thing to the descendants of Jacob who’ve been exiled to Babylon, and that one thing is: “Thus says the Lord GOD.” In the remaining information God shares with the prophet, it can be easy to miss the LORD’s point. What God is attempting to communicate to his wayward people is that he hasn’t abandoned them. The prophet himself is the message. Despite the sinful behavior of God’s people, God has arranged for them to continue to have access to a prophet who can speak to them in the name of the LORD.
? Read the Book of Ezekiel 11:16, in which God announces that he’s been a sanctuary for his people even when they were in foreign countries. Consider what connotations are associated with the word “sanctuary.”
? How is God a sanctuary for people facing distress and difficult times?
? In the Book of Ezekiel 33:22, the prophet recounts that he’d been mute for some time before the fall of Jerusalem. Read the Book of Ezekiel 2:3–7. How might Ezekiel’s muteness have underscored the message he was given to deliver to the exiles in Babylon?
WHAT DO YOU THINK about Ezekiel’s call to be a prophet?
The Book of Ezekiel 3:1–11 describes a scene similar to that in the Book of Jeremiah 15:16. In Jeremiah’s call to become a prophet, he was required to consume words on a scroll. Ezekiel is asked to do the same. The experience of both prophets is similar—in both cases the words on the scroll are sweet as honey to the taste.
? God’s words in this section in the Book of Ezekiel may seem hard to swallow. Some Christians have difficulty reading about God’s judgment and punishments upon his people after those people have turned away from the LORD to serve false idols or even other people. Consider how study of the Bible—complete with its difficult passages—might turn out to be as sweet as honey.
? Why might the LORD want his prophets to consume words on a scroll?
? Consider how eating words on a scroll might point to the way in which religious practices are changing for the descendants of Jacob.
? Read “God’s Word as Sustenance,” the Christian Connection on page 29 in Thus Says the LORD: God Speaks Through His Servants the Prophets—Volume II: Restoration & Redemption. How might the action required of the prophets foreshadow the sacrament of the Eucharist?
? What other links to the sacrament of the Eucharist can be seen in the prophecies of Ezekiel?
? Read the book of Revelation 10:1–11, a New Testament passage that also involves eating words on a scroll. According to that passage, for what purpose is the author of the book of Revelation being asked to do this?
? What might these various passages be suggesting about present-day Christian worship in regard to the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist?
WHAT DO YOU THINK about your own call to speak God’s word?
God sends Ezekiel to the people to deliver his message even though the descendants of Jacob have a bad track record in regard to listening to the prophets that came before—and God knows that they won’t listen to Ezekiel, either. Although Ezekiel is given a difficult mission, he’s called to deliver God’s message anyway.
? In the Book of Ezekiel 33:7–20, what does God say will happen if Ezekiel fails to deliver God’s message to the people?
? What attributes are associated with the courage necessary to become such a prophet?
? What advice might help someone struggling to speak difficult words about the faith to another person?
In the third chapter in the Book of Ezekiel, God emphasizes that it’s important for the descendants of Jacob to listen to his prophets, and he tells Ezekiel that while foreigners surely would listen to God’s words, the people with whom God has entered into covenant have hard heads and stubborn hearts. The LORD knows in advance that they won’t heed Ezekiel’s message. Paragraph 144 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church explains that the root of the word obey comes from a Latin word meaning to listen. It isn’t enough for God’s people merely to hear Ezekiel speaking God’s words. They must then submit freely to what God asks of them. Now, as then, obedience isn’t a popular virtue. And now, as then, God expects those who claim to have faith to obey. In the present day, this means respecting Church teaching—which is based on Scripture. It isn’t enough to attend a Bible study. We need to incorporate God’s word into our lives.
144 To obey (from the Latin ob-audire, to “hear or listen to”) in faith is to submit freely to the word that has been heard, because its truth is guaranteed by God, who is Truth itself. Abraham is the model of such obedience offered us by Sacred Scripture. The Virgin Mary is its most perfect embodiment.
biblical vocabulary—adamant
In the Book of Ezekiel 3:9, the prophet uses the word adamant as a noun, relying on this archaic word for diamond—a gemstone known for its exceptional hardness—to describe the hardness of God’s people. In present-day vernacular, the word adamant no longer is interchangeable with the noun diamond but is used as an adjective meaning unshakable, resolute, intransigent, or stubborn.
wrath—you could look it up in our archives
In the Book of Ezekiel 9:8, the prophet asks if God intends to destroy all that remains of the 12 tribes of Israel in the outpouring of his wrath upon Jerusalem. “Wrath” is a concept closely related to vengeance, but the word can have other connotations. 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 ancient Greek thought that viewed certain forms of “wrath” as virtuous. Consider whether the Book of Ezekiel might be referring to such a type of wrath. Why, or why not? 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.
a few words about covenant
One of our Bible study groups hit a speed bump when discussing how the Old and New Covenants differ. One person expressed the idea that the many instances of covenant in the Old Testament refer to covenants that reflect different terms between God and the people entering into a specific covenant. While it’s absolutely true that the Old Testament mentions the idea of covenant a number of times, and the person or persons with whom the LORD is entering into covenant change each time, the terms of the covenant do not. Those remain the same throughout both Testaments, although at first glance this might not appear to be the case.
The most familiar instances of God entering into covenant in the Old Testament can be found in the books of Genesis and Exodus and the Second Book of Samuel. (There are other mentions of covenant as well, including the covenant of salt that the LORD enters into with the Aaronic priesthood in the book of Numbers 18:19.) Among the familiar scriptural passages that describe the LORD’s covenant with his people, the first is with the couple Adam and Eve. This covenant expands when God includes Noah and his family, then the tribe of Abraham, then the nation being led by Moses, and then the kingdom ruled by David. Finally, in the New Testament, Jesus enters into a New Covenant with all people.
what causes confusion
People often view these expansions of the covenant as representative of completely different covenants. The reality is that the terms of the covenant don’t change—even with the institution of the New Covenant. It can help to think of the covenant terms as expressing an unbreakable spiritual law—similar to the way that gravity is a reliable physical law. One description of God’s covenant that appears in both the Old and the New Testament and is valid in every instance, is found in the Book of Jeremiah 30:22. There God announces through his prophet Jeremiah: “And you shall be my people, and I will be your God.” This amounts to a statement of terms or an agreement between God and his people. God is agreeing to protect the people as their God, and in turn the people agree to follow God’s law.
the covenant expressed in practical terms
From the people’s perspective, the covenant can be expressed in five words: “If you sin, you die.” The converse is equally true, and so the New Covenant in the New Testament is built on the more positive idea that if you don’t sin, you don’t die. The terms remain constant, but because of Jesus, the New Covenant nevertheless is very different from the Old. It isn’t necessary to think about the consequences to God if God fails to live up to his side of the covenant because that isn’t a real possibility—God always keeps his word. In fact, the Incarnation, Passion, death, and Resurrection of Jesus are the ways in which God underscores that when the Lord gives his Word it’s eternal.
a useful chart
A participant in one of the groups studying Thus Says the LORD: God Speaks Through His Servants the Prophets—Volume II: Restoration & Redemption sent along this chart, which her group found helpful when discussing how the Old and New Covenants differ.
Q&A—what’s the implication of eating fat as opposed to drinking milk?
When proofing this lesson, Turning to God’s Word co-founder Tami Palladino noticed a significant difference in the way that a passage in the Book of Ezekiel is translated in the Revised Standard Versions (the RSVCE and the RSV2CE) and the New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE). Both versions of the RSV render the Book of Ezekiel 34:3 as: “You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fatlings; but you do not feed the sheep,” while the NABRE translates the Book of Ezekiel 34:3 as: “You consumed milk, wore wool, and slaughtered fatlings, but the flock you did not pasture.” This raises questions about how such translation choices are determined.
Q: The book of Leviticus makes it fairly clear that in animal sacrifices, the fat was supposed to be God’s part, right? It’s interesting that the NABRE says milk and not fat. It seems like fat might be better. What can we tell from the original language in the Book of Ezekiel?
A: Matthew reports that Tami’s preference for using the word fat instead of milk appears to be the better translation. Readers still are left guessing about why the NABRE translators used milk, however. Perhaps the NABRE translators assumed this verse has nothing to do with animal sacrifice. That seems unlikely since it’s in a passage chastising “shepherds,” a group that certainly includes the priests, whose primary job is to offer sacrifice. Or perhaps the NABRE translators were influenced by the present culture’s sensitivity to fat in the diet and just subbed in the word milk without giving much thought to who was eating the fat and how that might fly in the face of Old Testament sacrificial law. Sadly, not many people are familiar with the book of Leviticus, including people who know quite a bit about the Old Testament. It’s a book with a serious image problem. We hope to address that more in future Turning to God’s Word Catholic Bible studies.
the Book of Ezekiel isn’t easy reading
Tami also expressed her feelings about the messages the prophet Ezekiel is asked to deliver in the biblical texts that are the basis of this lesson.
comment: In thinking of how our group will relate to this lesson, I can say that many will cringe and moan over the first readings—but if they persevere and see that it can end with the hope and joy of the Messiah to come and how God is there for us even in the midst of times when we’re in sin and far from the Church, then I think that people will end up loving the Book of Ezekiel.
response: Ezekiel is a big-deal prophet, and we think it’s important to cover as many of his prophecies and details about his life as possible. The limited scope of this overview of biblical prophecy only scratches the surface of God’s message contained in the Book of Ezekiel. The only way to learn about the prophet Ezekiel is by reading his work and thinking about what it means to us. We sympathize with the difficulty that entails. Matthew and I also have found the Book of Ezekiel rough going at times.
Part of what makes Thus Says the LORD: God Speaks Through His Servants the Prophets so difficult is that there’s a lot of good material that we can’t cover in an overview—even one 
that consists of 51 lessons. We’ve focused on the passages that strike us as the most significant, and we use the questions, commentary, online pages, and Matthew’s videos to encourage people to think more deeply about what the Scripture passages say and how they relate to the present day. We think it’s especially important to keep in mind that all Old Testament prophecy points to Jesus, and that Jesus himself points to a future time in the Church when we’ll experience a more complete union between divinity and humanity.
how is this relevant?
This challenging lesson concludes with the hopeful messianic prophecy found in the Book of Ezekiel 34:22–24: “I will save my flock, they shall no longer be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep. And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I the LORD, have spoken.” Each lesson in the study book Thus Says the LORD: God Speaks Through His Servants the Prophets—Volume II: Restoration & Redemption contains commentaries designed to make it easier to reflect on ways that God’s Word applies to present-day Christians.
? Although the readings for this lesson start out on a gruesome note, they end with unmistakable Old Testament prophecy of a future Messiah. Compare the prophecy in the Book of Ezekiel 34:22–24 with the prophecy in the Book of Jeremiah 31:31–34. How are these two prophecies similar?
? How do they differ?
? Which of these messianic prophecies seems to be the most comforting, and why?
? Although it’s easy to accuse present-day shepherds of the Church of acting like the sinful shepherds in Ezekiel’s day, the call to be good shepherds applies to all Christians. What evidence can you cite from your own life to indicate that individual behavior can serve as an example for others?
? In what specific ways can the faith of others be nurtured?
? What steps can ordinary Christians take to seek out those who have wandered from the faith to bring them back into the fold of the Church?
? Ezekiel’s prophecy focuses on a Messiah who will be like David. What’s surprising and unexpected about the way in which Ezekiel describes David?
? In what ways does Jesus act as a shepherd in the present-day world?
? In what ways does Jesus act as a king?
? Why might Ezekiel describe the Messiah to come as a prince instead of a king?
ex libris—idols are related to dung
In a section describing the distinction between holy and profane, Introduction to the Prophets: Their Stories, 
Sayings, and Scrolls discloses that although there are many Hebrew words 
that mean idol, the Hebrew word used in the Book of Ezekiel is derived from the Hebrew word gillûlîm, which means “dung balls.” The author, Thomas L. Leclerc, M.S. (Missionaries of La Salette), a priest and an associate professor of sacred Scripture at Emmanuel College in Boston, Massachusetts, explains that although something holy or sacred is set aside for divine worship it may yet become unclean or impure. Prior to the Babylonian Exile, the holiest place in Jerusalem, the Temple, was defiled and profaned by the presence of idols. At ex libris—main bookshelf, you can read an excerpt and learn more about this and other books related to in-depth Bible study.
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 Book of Ezekiel 1:1–10, the Book of Ezekiel 3:1–11, the Book of Ezekiel 10:1–5, the Book of Ezekiel 10:18–19, the Book of Ezekiel 18:20, the Book of Ezekiel 18:29, the Book of Ezekiel 33:7–9, and the Book of Ezekiel 33:21–29, and the Book of Ezekiel 34:1–10.
the Book of Ezekiel 1:26–28—paragraph 1137
the Book of Ezekiel 9:4–6—paragraph 1296
the Book of Ezekiel 11:19—paragraph 715
the Book of Ezekiel 18:5–9—paragraph 2056
the Book of Ezekiel 34:11–31—paragraph 754
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 Book of Ezekiel 1:1–10 (NIV)
the Book of Ezekiel 1:22—2:10 (NIV)
the Book of Ezekiel 3:1–11 (NIV)
the Book of Ezekiel 9:1–10 (NIV)
the Book of Ezekiel 10:1–5 (NIV)
the Book of Ezekiel 10:18–19 (NIV)
the Book of Ezekiel 11:14–25 (NIV)
the Book of Ezekiel 18:1–9 (NIV)
the Book of Ezekiel 18:20 (NIV)
the Book of Ezekiel 18:29 (NIV)
the Book of Ezekiel 33:7–9 (NIV)
the Book of Ezekiel 33:21–29 (NIV)
the Book of Ezekiel 34:1–10 (NIV)
the Book of Ezekiel 34:22–24 (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.
Almighty God, the many ways in which you are precious to us
can be seen in your glory.
Fill us with your Word that it may sink into our hearts,
and teach us to listen that we may know and learn your ways.
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, your Word made flesh,
in union with the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Lesson 4 The People Who Remain in Judah Lament Their Tragic Situation— the Book of Lamentations 1:1, the Book of Lamentations 1:17–21, the Book of Lamentations 2:1–2, the Book of Lamentations 2:6, the Book of Lamentations 2:14, the Book of Lamentations 3:19–33, the Book of Lamentations 4:12–13, the Book of Lamentations 4:19–22, the Book of Lamentations 5:1–7, and the Book of Lamentations 5:15–22
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, and the Book of Jeremiah 32:36–41
you also may like our study of the book of Revelation
The Revelation of Jesus Christ: The Faithful Witness, a 23-lesson Catholic Bible study with an imprimatur, examines ways in which our traditional Christian view of heaven is built on Hebrew apocalyptic visions recorded in the Old Testament. This recently revised study includes maps and additional commentary and takes a close look at the role of the prophets in present-day Christianity. Illustrations by Tami Palladino depict the often-misunderstood images in the book of Revelation. Click on the book’s cover to view a sample lesson.
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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 translation doesn’t include the deuterocanonical books and 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. A handful of more 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 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.”