Prophets II Catholic Bible study Lesson 4

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

Volume II: Restoration & Redemption

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
the Book of Lamentations 5:15–22

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’s Vision of a New Temple

This online supplemental material coordinates with the lesson on pages 31–36 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-related 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 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
In Lesson 3 Ezekiel: A Prophet & Priest in Exile, the prophet who accompanied the first wave of exiles to Babylon in 597 B.C. attempts to prepare those with him for the fall of Jerusalem. Not until the southern kingdom of Judah is completely conquered in 587–586 B.C. do the captives accept that their current fate is a consequence of their sins against the LORD. The prophet warns other nations of the fate to befall them as well, retribution that only can happen after the descendants of Jacob first have been punished for failing to honor their covenant with the LORD. Ezekiel introduces the term “son of man” (man is lowercase) to describe himself—and all other humans—as distinctly different from God. The prophet experiences a vision of four living creatures, apocalyptic images that show up later as cherubim in the Book of Ezekiel and even later in altered form in the book of Revelation. Ezekiel also experiences a significant vision in which he sees the LORD leaving the Temple in Jerusalem.

map notes—a tragic time for those left behind
The fall of the southern kingdom of Judah in 587–586 B.C. threatened to plunge the people not taken in the last wave of the Babylonian Exile into deep spiritual despair. Although the region had been politically unstable for some time—and the LORD had sent a slew of legitimate prophets to warn the people to turn away from idol worship—the descendants of Jacob insisted on ignoring these signs of doom. Their confidence in the LORD as their protector was based on the belief that God never would allow any harm to come to the throne occupied by David’s descendants or to the Temple in Jerusalem that served as the earthly dwelling for God’s name. The Book of Lamentations presents a picture of a people forced to admit that they had taken the LORD for granted. Click on the map (right) to enlarge it. The original map is on page 35 of Thus Says the LORD: God Speaks Through His Servants the Prophets—Volume II: Restoration & Redemption.

Q&A—what number of people is the Book of Lamentations addressing?
This excellent question comes from an Iowa participant in our study of the post-exilic prophets.

Q: What’s the total percentage of people who had been living in the southern kingdom of Judah who were deported to Babylon, and what percentage of people were left behind to be addressed by the author of the Book of Lamentations?

A: Scholarly estimates vary greatly, and Scripture is inconsistent. The Book of Jeremiah 52:28–30 sets the numbers of descendants of Judah deported in the first wave of the Exile at 3,023; in the second, 832; and in the third, 745. This totals 4,600 in all. It’s commonly accepted that only men were counted. If women and children are included, scholars estimate Jeremiah’s total to be between 14,000 to 18,000 people.

A larger but more problematic estimate is given in the Second Book of the Kings 24:14–16, which refers only to the first deportation in 597 B.C. That passage first mentions 10,000 men and then abruptly switches to 8,000. Both numbers are considerably more than the total estimate for all three waves of deportation recorded in the Book of Jeremiah. Most scholars consider the numbers in the Book of Jeremiah to be more accurate.

The population of the southern kingdom of Judah just prior to the deportations is less of a question mark. Scholars agree that this total probably was between 120,000 and 150,000 people, so less than 25 percent of the population actually were taken into exile. That would leave behind a bit more than 75 percent of the inhabitants of the southern kingdom, or roughly 90,000 to 115,000 people.

change is good (48:11)
Lesson 4 focuses on the attitude of the people left behind after the Babylonian Exile. As indicated by the title of the Book of Lamentations, the descendants of Judah are mourning the things that they’ve lost. Life used to be better. Now things are bad, and God is the one who’s brought about this sorry state. But the author of the Book of Lamentations has more in mind than bewailing the woeful existence of God’s people. This is what makes this book valuable and relevant. The people accept that not only did God bring about this unwelcome change, they recognize that they deserve what’s happened. In this video, Turning to God’s Word author Matthew Phelps points out that the attitude of those who remain behind reflects a similar change in attitude occurring among the people who were exiled to Babylon. All of God’s people have hope, and the author sees their situation as an opportunity for spiritual growth and development.

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 author Matthew Phelps discusses Lesson 4, “The People Who Remain in Judah Lament Their Tragic Situation,” on pages 31–36 in the study book.

what happened to the tribe of Simeon?
Scholars are uncertain whether any of those remaining in Jerusalem and the surrounding area at the time of the Babylonian Exile included members of the tribe of Simeon. It’s perhaps significant that Simeon is the only tribe not blessed by Moses in the thirty-third chapter of the book of Deuteronomy. What past events can you think of involving Simeon that might have led to God allowing for Simeon’s descendants to lose their identity as a tribe of Jacob? If necessary, refer to the thirty-fourth chapter in the book of Genesis and to Lesson 20 The Story of Dinah in the Turning to God’s Word Catholic Bible study In the Beginning: The Book of Genesis. There’s little evidence of what happened to the tribe of Simeon after the descendants of Jacob entered the Promised Land. Simeon’s descendants were allotted territory surrounded by a larger section of land allotted to the tribe of Judah. Scholars speculate that over time part of the tribe of Simeon was absorbed by the tribe of Judah; other members moved north and eventually became numbered among the 10 lost tribes after the northern kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Assyrians in 721 B.C. The Turning to God’s Word Catholic Bible study In the Beginning: The Book of Genesis describes the circumstances that surrounded the original allotments of land in Canaan to the descendants of Jacob. Click to enlarge the map (above right) from Lesson 28 Jacob’s Final Words to His Sons in that study.

biblical references concerning religious reform involving the tribe of Simeon
The Second Book of the Chronicles 15:9 indicates that some members of the tribe of Simeon moved south from in the northern kingdom of Israel when Asa, ruling the southern kingdom around the beginning of the 10th century B.C., instituted religious reforms: “And he [Asa] gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were sojourning with them, for great numbers had deserted to him from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.”

The Second Book of the Chronicles 34:5–7 describes Josiah’s later religious reforms extending into Samaria, the territory of the former northern kingdom of Israel, during the early half of the 7th century B.C.: “[Josiah] also burned the bones of the priests on their altars, and purged Judah and Jerusalem. And in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, and as far as Naphtali, in their ruins round about, he broke down the altars, and beat the Asherim and the images into powder, and hewed down all the incense altars throughout all the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.” 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, describes the reigns of Asa and Josiah and looks at the fall of the northern and southern kingdoms.

expressions of sorrow over what is lost
The people left behind during the Babylonian Exile had much to mourn. The Book of Lamentations is written in the form of funeral dirges, and it’s the only place in Scripture that addresses the situation faced by the descendants of Jacob who weren’t exiled to Babylon. In the second chapter of the Book of Lamentations, the author addresses the crux of the problem—both the northern kingdom of Israel and southern kingdom of Judah have been destroyed. What’s worse, God is behind it. The LORD has spurned both king and priest. Not only that, false prophets had been misleading the people with deceptive visions. The descendants of Jacob—both those in Exile and those who remain behind—are faced with accepting that God has intervened because of the failure of their religious institutions.

what were the intended roles of priests, kings & prophets?
The primary duty of priests at this time was to offer sacrifice to atone for sin, although priests also were intended to mediate between the people and the LORD. Earthly kings who ruled over the descendants of Jacob were stand-ins for God, whom the people rejected as their king. The kings originally were intended to be spiritual leaders upholding the law and modeling righteousness. The prophets were sent by God as a corrective measure to advise the kings. Because the prophets identify so closely with God, they’re concerned with holiness on a universal scale. While an individual might be interested in his or her own personal relationship with God, a valid prophet speaking for the LORD instead wants to help all of God’s people restore their relationship with God.

signs of institutional failure
The first volume of 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, describes the period of time between the death of Solomon and the Babylonian Exile in which the priests as a whole became obsessed with obtaining political power. The majority of the kings became concerned about attaining military rather than spiritual strength. False prophets gained popularity with the people by delivering positive messages (happy news that all was well) instead of warning about the dangers inherent in ignoring the covenant God had made with the descendants of Jacob. False prophets and wayward priests allowed corruption to fester—the false prophets by not holding the kings accountable, and the dubious priests by not holding the people accountable. The human failure of these religious leaders signaled institutional failure and a need for God to overhaul the whole system.

WHAT DO YOU THINK about the hope expressed in the Book of Lamentations?
In the third chapter of the Book of Lamentations, the author moves from dwelling exclusively on the woe that has befallen those who remain in Jerusalem during the Babylonian Exile to begin expressing hope that the LORD won’t cast off his people forever.

? Read the Book of Lamentations 3:55–60. What’s behind the author’s confidence that the LORD will hear his prayer and have compassion on the descendants of Jacob?
? In the Book of Lamentations 3:22–23, what does the author recognize as being new every morning?
? What does this continual newness suggest about the nature of God?
? What opportunity does it suggest is available to men and women each day?
? Consider how this opportunity changes between the Old Testament and the New— between a lifetime limited to time spent on earth and the possibility of eternal life.
? Consider whether the people who remained behind during the Babylonian Exile felt more urgency for God to act to change their situation than present-day Christians feel about difficulties in their lives.
? Think about the lives of some of the most well known saints. How might the idea of eternal life have influenced the everyday decisions made by these holy men and women?

ex libris—are you interested in hope?
If you are, we recommend Faith Hope Love by Joseph Pieper. (If you aren’t interested in hope, you might want to ask yourself what you think is the point of having faith.) In his book, Pieper also looks at the other two theological virtues—faith and love. All three are essential to the Christian faith. Pieper’s academic discipline is philosophy rather than theology, and he does an exceptional job focusing on language to narrow the definition of the concept of hope and bring it into sharper focus for Catholics. At ex libris—main bookshelf, you can read an excerpt and learn more about Faith Hope Love and other works related to in-depth Bible study.

salvation—you could look it up in our archives
In the Book of Lamentations 3:26, the author prays: “It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.” 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 linguistic roots of the word “salvation,” which essentially means being safe. How might the way that the descendants of Jacob living in Jerusalem during the Exile interpreted salvation differ from the prevailing Christian meaning of the word? 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.

WHAT DO YOU THINK about the author’s entreaty against Edom?
The Book of Lamentations 4:21 specifically names Edom as an enemy of the descendants of Jacob, and this theme will repeat at length in Lesson 6, “Obadiah’s Oracles Against Edom.” The Old Testament especially contains many entreaties for the LORD to deal with those who politically oppose his people. The twenty-fifth through thirty-third chapters of the Book of Ezekiel contain what scholars have termed “oracles against the nations.” These prophecies uphold faith in the LORD’s ultimate power over Edom as well as over Ammon, Moab, Philistia, Tyre, Sidon, Egypt, and Babylon. Similar prophecies occur in the Books of Amos, Isaiah, and Jeremiah.

? Consider how the author of the Book of Lamentations was able to maintain confidence that over time the apparent good fortune of Edom would change.
? What advantage might the descendants of Jacob have over the people of Edom, who are descended from Jacob’s twin brother Esau?
? How can present-day Christians maintain confidence that God won’t allow current problems to last forever?
? What specific problems in our present-day world cry out for God to address them?
? Consider how much confidence most people have that the LORD will bring good out of evil in difficult situations.

who lives in the areas surrounding the former southern kingdom of Judah?
You can learn more about Edom, Ammon, Moab, Philistia, Tyre, Sidon, Egypt, and Babylon (including the meaning of their names) by looking them up in our online glossary. All of the proper nouns in Thus Says the LORD: God Speaks Through His Servants the Prophets—Volume II: Restoration & Redemption are listed in alphabetical order.

it’s apparently human nature to try to blame others for our problems
In the Book of Lamentations 5:7, the author announces: “Our fathers sinned, and are no more; and we bear their iniquities.” We saw this same theme in the Book of Ezekiel 18:2: “What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’?” In that case, however, the prophet Ezekiel took pains to explain that every person is held accountable for his or her own sin. To learn more, read the commentary box “The Soul That Sins Shall Die” on page 29 in the study book, Thus Says the LORD: God Speaks Through His Servants the Prophets—Volume II: Restoration & Redemption.

about half of the Psalms are songs of lament
Although there is only one Book of Lamentations in the Bible, there are more Psalms of lamentation than any other type. These passionate prayers cry out to God in times of deep distress and despair. Men and women ask God to intervene to deliver them from suffering, sorrow, loss, and other failures, and to rescue from their enemies. These expressions of trust in God also include expressions of hope and joy. There’s scholarly disagreement over which Psalms qualify as lamentations. Catholics frequently list four types of Psalms of lament:

community Psalms—These prayers focus on times when a group faces serious difficulty such as a natural disaster or severe political oppression. Many community Psalms of lament bemoan the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 587 B.C. Examples of community Psalms of lament include Psalms 10, 44, 74, 79, 106 and 137.
individual Psalms—These prayers of lament are limited to one person who’s experiencing sickness, rejection, or some other great loss. Their cry to God expresses both anguish and trust. Examples of individual Psalms of lament include Psalms 3, 13, 22, 31, 54, 56 and 120.
penitential Psalms—In these prayers of lament, an individual acknowledges his or her own sinfulness. These Psalms often are part of penitential practices associated with Lent. An expression of the need for God’s loving mercy is paired with trust in God’s ability to restore peace and well-being. Examples of penitential Psalms of lament include Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51 (the Miserere), 102, 130 and 143.
imprecatory Psalms—These “cursing Psalms” express a desire for vengeance toward someone who’s deeply hurt either an individual or a group. It can be troubling to connect such prayers to the Christian teaching to love our enemies. Examples of imprecatory Psalms of lament include Psalms 35, 58, 59, 69, 70, 109, 137 and 140.

You can learn more about all of the Psalms in the Turning to God’s Word two-volume Catholic Bible study Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church. Volume I covers Psalms prayed at Lauds and Vespers. Volume II, which will cover Psalms typically prayed at Vigils, Day Prayer, and Compline, is scheduled for publication in late summer of 2025.

Q&A—what is generational sin & how is it related to our faith?
A study participant has long been interested in the Church’s position on generational sin, sometimes called ancestral sin, which is the idea that weaknesses or tendencies toward sin are handed down to us through the generations from our parents or other members of our family. These sins can involve behavioral patterns and ways of thinking that keep us trapped in the past.

Q: I’ve asked many priests and Church leaders about generational sin, and I’ve heard what I think are some truly bizarre responses. Can you help?

A: We can try. In the book of Exodus 20:5, God, speaking through Moses, takes one position on this issue, and then the LORD clearly reverses that position in the Book of Ezekiel 18:2, which is addressed to the exiles in Babylon. Although the Book of Lamentations 5:7 looks to be yet another reversal, it’s instead the author expressing the mournful view of the people who’ve remained in Jerusalem, where they haven’t been exposed to the updated prophecy that Ezekiel’s been delivering to the captives in Babylon. Chronologically, even in the Old Testament, God can be seen to be moving away from holding people responsible for the sins of their parents, and toward each individual being held personally responsible for their own behavior. The Gospels in the New Testament contain numerous instances in which Jesus endorses personal responsibility.

what Matthew says: There’s definitely at least one undeniable element of generational sin. The fifth chapter in the Letter to the Romans talks about how death reigned over all humanity from the sin of Adam. Our first parents had likeness to God that allowed them to stand in his presence and to know some sense of paradise. Through their sin, that likeness was lost in a way that no one before Christ was able to get back. The sin of Adam and Eve created a consequence that echoed through all of humanity for all time regardless of how any person after that chose to behave.

That’s not the same as a tendency to repeat the mistakes of our parents, which I think is also a legitimate thing. In the case of original sin, we suffer the consequences of something for which we’re not directly culpable because we never actually committed the sin ourselves. I think we are culpable for the more environment-driven sins even if we’re given a social or even a genetic predisposition for them. We still make a choice and we still do something, so there’s individual culpability.

But children model their behavior after that of their parents, either in imitation or in direct and deliberate contrast depending on that relationship. So yeah, the behavior of parents can for sure shape the behavior of children. That’s one key reason why the role of the parents is so important in raising children in the faith—but it doesn’t guarantee that good parents will have good children and bad parents will have bad children. This is because, again, there’s a free-will choice involved on the part of the children.

Q: So I have a follow-up question: What is a generation?

A: There seems to be a lot of leeway in how this is understood, but the Miriam-Webster dictionary defines the noun “generation” as: “a body of living beings constituting a single step in the line of descent from an ancestor; a group of individuals born and living contemporaneously; the average span of time between the birth of parents and that of their offspring.” In theological terms, the idea of generational sin is loosely tied to the time between the birth dates of parents and their children. This length of time isn’t a set period and necessarily varies across the centuries.

In sociological terms, most experts consider the span of a generation to be somewhere between 20 and 30 years. The time ranges for the following sociological designations are completely arbitrary. Do we really believe that someone born in 1964 (labeled a Baby Boomer) has more in common with someone born in 1946 (also labeled a Baby Boomer) than with someone born in 1965 (labeled a member of Generation X)? The following is a rough guide to the labels that society has placed on recent generations of people born in the United States. It must be emphasized that even within the realm of sociology, these labels have nothing to do with generational sin.

Silent Generation—born 1925–1945
Baby Boomer Generation—born 1946–1964
Generation X—born 1965–1980
Generation Y—born 1981–1996
Generation Z—born 1997–2012
Generation Alpha—born 2013–2025

read the Catechism—original sin
Many of the most difficult questions about Christian morality center on the place of original sin in our faith, and the answer isn’t easy to grasp. The Catechism of the Catholic Church devotes nine pages to explaining why sin has entered our world, the consequences we face as a result, and what God has done to help us overcome those consequences. This amounts to 36 consecutive paragraphs, beginning with paragraph 385 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

385 God is infinitely good and all his works are good. Yet no one can escape the experience of suffering or the evils in nature which seem to be linked to the limitations proper to creatures: and above all to the question of moral evil. Where does evil come from? “I sought whence evil comes and there was no solution,” said St. Augustine, and his own painful quest would only be resolved by his conversion to the living God. For “the mystery of lawlessness” is clarified only in the light of the “mystery of our religion.” The revelation of divine love in Christ manifested at the same time the extent of evil and the superabundance of grace. We must therefore approach the question of the origin of evil by fixing the eyes of our faith on him who alone is its conqueror.

a related Bible study
The Turning to God’s Word Catholic Bible study The Letter to the Hebrews: An Explanation of the Mechanism of Our Salvation looks at how the author of that New Testament book addresses questions related to sin and original sin to explore the way in which Christian salvation works.

what Matthew says—a question at the end of the Book of Lamentations
In the Book of Lamentations 5:21, the author gets straight to the point when he pleads for God to restore the relationship between the LORD and the descendants of Jacob. In the Book of Lamentations 5:22, however, the author ends by questioning whether God really will do this, asking if the LORD in his anger has utterly rejected the people. As Turning to God’s Word author Matthew Phelps explains in the video that accompanies this lesson, this is an interesting question with which to leave things. Is relationship with God salvageable? This question highlights the biblical author’s state of mind. The strain of the situation the people find themselves in causes the author of the Book of Lamentations to waver back and forth between forced certainty that all will be well and doubt that the people are going to end up in a good place. It’s easy for men and women to fake our way into pretending that God is going to make things better. Such a position can be based on a firm belief—actual faith—that God’s able to intervene. That doesn’t get rid of the question about whether God actually will intervene. A worthwhile spiritual exercise is to consider why God’s answer sometimes is no.

read the Catechism—what’s repentance?
The Catechism of the Catholic Church uses the word contrition instead of repentance. Both wordsessentially mean the same thing. Repentance carries with it the idea of rethinking behavior. Paragraph 1451 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church explains that in order to receive absolution in the sacrament of Reconciliation, a penitent must approach the sacrament with a firm resolution not to repeat the same sin that they’re confessing. An act of contrition is more than repeating the words “I’m sorry.” God isn’t looking for us to apologize to him. What God cares about is repentance. Are we genuinely sorry for our sinful behavior? Are we resolute in our intention not to continue repeating the same sins?

1450 “Penance requires … the sinner to endure all things willingly, be contrite of heart, confess with the lips, and practice complete humility and fruitful satisfaction.”

1451 Among the penitent’s acts contrition occupies first place. Contrition is “sorrow of the soul and detestation for the sin committed, together with the resolution not to sin again.”

how is this relevant?
Perhaps one of the most important lessons we can take away from this overview of the prophets so far is that the way God treats us is based on the way that we deserve to be treated. The Book of Lamentations reflects the people’s growing awareness of this truth, which occurs in three steps. First, the descendants of Jacob left behind during the Babylonian Exile accept that they don’t like the situation in which they find themselves. Next, they acknowledge that what they’ve been doing isn’t working well for them, connecting their behavior to their unfortunate situation. At this point they catch on that maybe they should be acting differently. 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.

? What evidence is there in the Book of Lamentations that the author has decided the people’s tragic situation is related to their past religious behavior?
? How does any change contemplated by the people left behind in Jerusalem during the Babylonian Captivity involve repentance?
? What things may be getting in the way of men and women developing closer relationships to God at the time of the Exile?
? What things may be getting in the way of you developing a closer relationship to God right now?
? How might these things constitute an invitation to repentance?
? What goal might God be working toward in your life?
? Consider where your goals and God’s might be at cross-purposes.
? How might you be placing limitations on your expectations of how you expect God to act in your life?

oops! a correction in the study book
In future printings of this study, Question 7 on page 35 will read:

Question 7 Read the Book of Lamentations 4:12–13. What is behind the idea that kings of the earth and other inhabitants of the world did not think an enemy ever could enter Jerusalem? According to the biblical text, why was Babylon able to defeat the southern kingdom of Judah and destroy the Temple in Jerusalem? Consider whether any specific prophets and priests of Judah you know about might not be guilty of having shed the blood of the righteous in Jerusalem.

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 to the primary Scripture passages in the lesson (Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition [RSVCE*]) 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 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, and the Book of Lamentations 5:1–7.

the Book of Lamentations 5:21—paragraph 1432

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 Lamentations 1:1 (NIV)
the Book of Lamentations 1:17–21 (NIV)
the Book of Lamentations 2:1–2 (NIV)
the Book of Lamentations 2:6 (NIV)
the Book of Lamentations 2:14 (NIV)
the Book of Lamentations 3:19–33 (NIV)
the Book of Lamentations 4:12–13 (NIV)
the Book of Lamentations 4:19–22 (NIV)
the Book of Lamentations 5:1–7 (NIV)
the Book of Lamentations 5:15–22 (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.

God our Father, your love and mercies never cease,
and you never withdraw your protection.
Bring hope, comfort, and healing
to those who grieve in sorrow.
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ,
who offers salvation to all who believe in him. Amen.

you also may like our study of the book of Exodus
You Shall Have No Other Gods: The Book of Exodus, a 28-lesson Catholic Bible study with an imprimatur, provides an in-depth look at how significant events in biblical history that occurred thousands of years ago to descendants of Jacob remain relevant and even critical for present-day Christians to understand. The deliverance of the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt and the giving of Ten Commandments are examined along with the development of Moses’ relationship to God. 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. 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 these 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.”