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Come, O Breath

To exiles who said their hope was lost, the Lord showed a valley of dry bones and asked, “Can these bones live?”

  • 📖 Adult Sunday School
  • Week 45
  • 📅 Sunday, November 8, 2026
🏆 Showdown
💡 The big idea

No life, heart or hope is too far gone for the Lord: He can give us a new heart, seek us when we are lost, and breathe life into what we thought was dead, and He will one day raise us up through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

I can bring the Lord the parts of my life that feel dried up, let Him give me a new heart, and help Him seek the people who feel lost.

Study it yourself firstRead Ezekiel 1–3; 33–34; 36–37; 47 in Gospel LibraryCome, Follow Me manualOpen this week (Ezekiel 1–3; 33–34; 36–37; 47)
Know the chapters

Ezekiel was a priest carried to Babylon with King Jehoiachin in 597 BC, about eleven years before Jerusalem fell. In the fifth year of that captivity, by the river Chebar, he saw “the likeness of the glory of the Lord” (Ezekiel 1:1–3, 28). The Lord called him a watchman to warn the house of Israel (3:17; 33:7), and he ministered among exiles who had lost their land, their king and, when the news arrived that the city had fallen (33:21), their temple.

This week’s block moves from judgment to restoration. In chapter 34 the Lord rebukes Israel’s shepherds, who fed themselves and never sought the lost (34:2–4), and promises, “I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out” (34:11), and to set over them “one shepherd,” His servant David (34:23), a promise the Savior fulfilled when He called Himself the good shepherd (John 10:11). In chapter 36 He promises to take away “the stony heart” and give “an heart of flesh” and His own spirit (36:26–27). Chapter 47 ends with water flowing from the temple, growing deeper until it is a river that heals everything it reaches.

This lesson centers on Ezekiel 37:1–14. The exiles were saying, “Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost” (37:11). The Lord answered with a vision of a valley full of very dry bones that come together, take on flesh, and then receive breath and stand. The Hebrew word for breath in this chapter, ruach, can also mean wind or spirit, so breath, the four winds and “my spirit” (37:14) are all the same word. The Lord explained that the vision meant Israel’s restoration, and latter-day revelation also connects it to the Resurrection (Doctrine and Covenants 138:43).

Twenty-five minutes won’t cover the watchman, the shepherds, the two sticks and the river. Read the valley of bones well and let people talk about hope. The river of Ezekiel 47 is ready as a bonus step, and the watchman and two sticks are in the extras.

Only have 5 minutes?

Read Ezekiel 37:1–14, 36:26–27 and 34:11–16 once. Open by asking what makes something in life feel past saving. Walk through the valley of bones, then read Ezekiel 36:26 and ask what the Lord takes away and what He gives. Spend most of the time on the “our hope is lost” questions. Close with Ezekiel 34:11–16 and invite each person to seek one person who feels lost this week.

What to bring2 items

Tick what you have. Forgot something? Every step that needs a supply has a no-supplies version in the plan below.

Before class

  1. Read Ezekiel 37:1–14 aloud to yourself once; it reads beautifully out loud. Then read 36:24–28 and 34:1–16.
  2. Ask one person ahead of time to read the Ezekiel verses in the story (37:1–2, 7–8 and 10). A quick Saturday text is plenty.
  3. Find a dry twig or a few dry leaves. You’ll hold it up in the opening and again in the testimony.
  4. Decide your own honest answer to “What makes something feel past saving?” If the room is quiet, you go first.
  5. Choose the two or three questions you most want to reach in each discussion. Let the rest go.

Discussion tips

  • Quiet class? After the story, give thirty seconds of silence to reread verse 11, then send the first question to pairs. People open up to one neighbor before they open up to a room.
  • One voice filling every pause? Thank them, then say, “Let’s hear from someone who hasn’t spoken yet,” and wait comfortably.
  • “Our hope is lost” may describe someone in the room right now: a marriage, a child who has left the Church, an illness, depression. Don’t rush to the happy ending. Ezekiel’s own answer was “O Lord GOD, thou knowest” (37:3), and honoring that honesty matters more than a tidy conclusion.
  • If the Resurrection comes up with grief attached, let it. Someone may be missing a person they love. A short, sincere testimony helps more than an explanation.
  • Visitors and new members: briefly explain who the exiles were and why they felt hopeless, show references on the shared screen, and never ask anyone to read aloud without checking first.

The 25-minute plan25 min + bonus

Bonus steps are for when you have extra time. Each “On the screen” line is what the class sees on a shared screen in Teach Mode in the Gospel Sparks app; on paper, read it aloud or write it on the board. On the web you can play Scripture Showdown from this page.

1. Hook

Past Saving?

3 min

Opens with the honest feeling that something is too far gone, before anyone opens Ezekiel.

  1. Hold up the dry twig or dry leaves and let people look at it for a moment.
  2. SAY“Most of us have looked at something in life and thought, ‘That’s gone. It’s too late for that one.’ A relationship, a habit, a hope, sometimes our own hearts.”
  3. Ask: “What makes something feel past saving?” Add: “You don’t need to share details; general answers are perfect.”
  4. Give 20 seconds to think, then take two or three answers.
  5. SAY“Ezekiel’s people felt exactly that way, and the Lord answered them with a valley full of bones.”

On the screen: 🍂 What makes something feel past saving?

No supplies? Do this instead

Instead of: A dry, bare twig or a handful of dry, brown leaves

Too Late for That One

  1. SAY“Most of us have looked at something in life and thought, ‘That’s gone. It’s too late for that one.’ A relationship, a habit, a hope, sometimes our own hearts.”
  2. Ask: “What makes something feel past saving?” General answers are perfect.
  3. Give 20 seconds to think, then take two or three answers.
  4. SAY“Ezekiel’s people felt exactly that way, and the Lord answered them with a valley full of bones.”
2. Story

Read It in Context: The Valley of Dry Bones

6 min

Reads Ezekiel 37:1–14 as the Lord’s answer to a people who had given up.

  1. Open Teach Mode to the scripture scene. The shared screen shows one scene at a time.
  2. Read each scene’s context yourself, then let Ezekiel and the class read their verses. You read the Lord’s words; no one is assigned to speak as the Lord.
  3. Keep it moving: context, verses, next scene. Save comments for the discussion.
  4. After scene 6, let a few seconds of silence sit before moving on.

On the screen: 🦴 Ezekiel 37: a valley of very dry bones, and the breath of life · Follow along in Ezekiel 37:1–14

3. Scripture

A Heart of Flesh

4 min

Studies Ezekiel 36:26 closely so class members see that the Lord offers not just correction but a changed heart.

  1. Put Ezekiel 36:26 on the shared screen and read it slowly.
  2. SAY“With the person next to you, list what the Lord gives and what He takes away.”
  3. After a minute, draw it out: He gives a new heart and a new spirit; He takes away the stony heart; He gives a heart of flesh.
  4. Read verse 27 aloud and point out that His own spirit is what makes walking in His ways possible.
  5. Ask: “What turns a heart to stone over time? And what does a heart of flesh feel like?”

On the screen: ❤️ I will take away the stony heart and give you an heart of flesh. · Ezekiel 36:26–27 · What does the Lord give? What does He take away?

4. Talk it over

Our Hope Is Lost

6 min

Helps adults bring their own dried-up places to the Lord and see how He brings life back.

  1. Put Ezekiel 37:11 back on the shared screen.
  2. Pick two or three questions; don’t try to cover all of them.
  3. Start the third question in pairs: give one minute to talk with a neighbor, then invite a few to share.
  4. Let silence work. Count to seven before rescuing a question.
  5. If the room is quiet, share your own answer first.
💬 Ask the class
  • What dries up hope for adults today?
  • Ezekiel answered, “O Lord GOD, thou knowest.” What does that honest answer teach about facing something we can’t fix?
  • The bones came together first, and then the breath came. What part of renewal can we do, and what can only the Lord’s Spirit do? (Talk with a neighbor first.)
  • Latter-day revelation connects this vision to the Resurrection (Doctrine and Covenants 138:43). How does the Savior’s Resurrection change the way we grieve?
  • Where have you seen the Lord bring something back to life that you had given up on?

On the screen: 🏜️ “Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost.” Can these bones live? · Ezekiel 37:3, 11–14

5. Talk it over

I, Even I, Will Seek

4 min

Turns the promise of life into ministering: the Good Shepherd seeks the lost and invites us to seek with Him.

  1. Ask a volunteer to read Ezekiel 34:2–4 and then 34:11–16 while the class follows along.
  2. Point out that verse 16 answers verse 4 almost line for line: what the shepherds failed to do, the Lord promises to do Himself.
  3. Share President Dieter F. Uchtdorf’s words (in “From general conference” below).
  4. Ask one or two questions, then move to the testimony on time.
💬 Ask the class
  • Verse 4 lists what the shepherds failed to do. Which of those needs do you see around you right now?
  • What does it mean to you that the Lord says, “I, even I,” will do the seeking?
  • How can ministering feel less like an assignment and more like a shepherd looking for someone he loves?

On the screen: 🐑 “I will seek that which was lost … and will bind up that which was broken.” · Ezekiel 34:4, 11–16

6. Testimony

Breath in the Bones

2 min

Ends with testimony of Jesus Christ, the Resurrection and the Life, and a concrete invitation for the week.

  1. Hold up the dry twig once more and read Ezekiel 37:14.
  2. Invite one or two people to share, in a sentence or two, how the Lord has breathed life into something they thought was gone.
  3. Bear a short testimony that because Jesus Christ rose from the tomb, no grave is final, and no heart is too hard for Him to make new.
  4. Invite: “This week, bring the Lord one dried-up place in your life in prayer, and seek one person who feels lost.”

On the screen: 🌱 “And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live.” · Ezekiel 37:14 · This week: bring Him one dry place. Seek one lost sheep.

No supplies? Do this instead

Instead of: A dry, bare twig or a handful of dry, brown leaves

  1. Read Ezekiel 37:14.
  2. Invite one or two people to share, in a sentence or two, how the Lord has breathed life into something they thought was gone.
  3. Bear a short testimony that because Jesus Christ rose from the tomb, no grave is final, and no heart is too hard for Him to make new.
  4. Invite: “This week, bring the Lord one dried-up place in your life in prayer, and seek one person who feels lost.”
7. Talk it over

Waters to Swim In

5 minBONUS

Explores Ezekiel’s vision of a healing river flowing from the temple.

  1. Read Ezekiel 47:1–5. Point out that the water rises from ankles to knees to waist to a river too deep to cross.
  2. Read Ezekiel 47:8–9 and 12. The water flows into the Dead Sea region and heals it, and trees along the bank bear fruit every month and leaves for medicine.
  3. Read Revelation 22:1–2 and notice how John echoes the same picture.
  4. Ask one or two questions.
💬 Ask the class
  • How have you seen blessings from the house of the Lord grow deeper over time, from ankle-deep to waters to swim in?
  • What “dead sea” in your life or family needs the healing that flows from the temple?
  • The leaves were “for medicine.” What healing have you found in the temple?

On the screen: 🏞️ Everything shall live whither the river cometh. · Ezekiel 47:1–12 · Revelation 22:1–2

8. Game

Scripture Showdown

5 minBONUS

A light, friendly review if you finish early.

  1. Split the room down the middle into two teams.
  2. Launch Scripture Showdown on your phone or tablet and read each question aloud.
  3. After each reveal, read the reference so people can mark it.
▶ Play Scripture Showdown on the web

On the screen: 🏆 Scripture Showdown: how well do you know Ezekiel?

Read it together

The Valley of Dry Bones

Ezekiel 37:1–14 ↗

Reading parts

  • EzekielReads Ezekiel’s own narration: Ezekiel 37:1–2, 37:7–8 and 37:10.
  • The ClassEveryone reads Ezekiel’s answer at the end of 37:3 and the people’s words in 37:11.

Scenes

  1. 🏞️ Exiles by a foreign river

    Ezekiel is a priest living among Israelite captives in Babylon, hundreds of miles from home. Word has just come that Jerusalem has fallen and the temple is gone. His people feel finished.

    🎬 The teacher reads this context. No scripture yet; let the class feel the loss.

  2. 🦴 A valley full of very dry bones

    The Lord carries Ezekiel in vision to a valley covered with bones. He is made to walk all around them, and he notices one thing above all: they are very dry. Whatever happened here happened long ago.

    🎬 Ezekiel reads Ezekiel 37:1–2.

  3. ❓ “Can these bones live?”

    Then comes a question that seems to have an obvious answer. Ezekiel doesn’t say yes and doesn’t say no. He gives the question back to the only One who knows.

    🎬 The teacher reads Ezekiel 37:3 up to the question. The Class answers with the rest of the verse: “O Lord GOD, thou knowest.”

  4. 🥁 A noise, a shaking, bone to bone

    Ezekiel is told to speak the Lord’s word to the bones, and he does. The valley rattles as bones find each other, then sinews, flesh and skin cover them. But something is still missing.

    🎬 The teacher reads Ezekiel 37:4–6. Ezekiel reads 37:7–8, pausing on the last words: “but there was no breath in them.”

  5. 🌬️ Come from the four winds, O breath

    In Hebrew, one word means breath, wind and spirit. Ezekiel calls to the wind, the breath enters, and the bodies stand up on their feet: a vast army where there had been a graveyard.

    🎬 The teacher reads Ezekiel 37:9. Ezekiel reads verse 10.

  6. 🪦 “I will open your graves”

    Now the Lord explains the vision. The bones are His people, and they have been saying something hopeless. His answer is a promise: graves opened, His spirit within them, and life.

    🎬 The Class reads the people’s words in Ezekiel 37:11. The teacher reads 37:12–14. Let a few seconds of quiet follow.

Key verse

Ezekiel 36:26 ↗
“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.”
In plain words: The Lord doesn’t only ask us to try harder; He offers to change us from the inside, trading a hard, unfeeling heart for a living, tender one.

More verses

Ezekiel 37:3 ↗
“And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest.”
In plain words: When something looks past saving, Ezekiel’s answer is an honest one: we don’t know, but the Lord does.
Ezekiel 37:14 ↗
“And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord.”
In plain words: The Lord promises to put His own Spirit in His people so they will truly live, and to bring them home.
Ezekiel 34:16 ↗
“I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.”
In plain words: The Lord does Himself what careless shepherds wouldn’t: He finds the lost, brings back the scattered, binds up the broken and strengthens the sick.
Ezekiel 47:9 ↗
“And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh.”
In plain words: The river from the Lord’s house heals even dead water. Wherever it flows, life follows.

Scripture Showdown7 questions

  1. Where was Ezekiel when he saw his visions?
    • A. In the temple at Jerusalem
    • B. Among the captives in Babylon
    • C. In Egypt
    Show answer

    ✅ B. Among the captives in Babylon Ezekiel 1:1–3: he was among the captives by the river Chebar, in the land of the Chaldeans.

  2. What question did the Lord ask Ezekiel in the valley?
    • A. “Can these bones live?”
    • B. “Who scattered these bones?”
    • C. “How many bones are here?”
    Show answer

    ✅ A. “Can these bones live?” Ezekiel 37:3. Ezekiel answered, “O Lord GOD, thou knowest.”

  3. What was still missing after the bones had sinews, flesh and skin?
    • A. Eyes
    • B. Breath
    • C. Names
    Show answer

    ✅ B. Breath Ezekiel 37:8: “but there was no breath in them.”

  4. In Ezekiel 36:26, what does the Lord promise to take away?
    • A. The law of Moses
    • B. The land of Israel
    • C. The stony heart
    Show answer

    ✅ C. The stony heart “I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.”

  5. What did the Lord call Ezekiel to be for the house of Israel?
    • A. A watchman
    • B. A judge
    • C. A king
    Show answer

    ✅ A. A watchman Ezekiel 3:17 and 33:7: “I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel.”

  6. What names were written on Ezekiel’s two sticks?
    • A. Moses and Aaron
    • B. Judah and Joseph
    • C. Israel and Egypt
    Show answer

    ✅ B. Judah and Joseph Ezekiel 37:16: one “For Judah” and one “For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim.”

  7. In Ezekiel 47, where did the healing river come from?
    • A. The Jordan River
    • B. A mountain spring
    • C. Under the temple threshold
    Show answer

    ✅ C. Under the temple threshold Ezekiel 47:1: “waters issued out from under the threshold of the house.”

▶ Play Scripture ShowdownTeams take turns on one screen.

From general conference

“But just as the Good Shepherd finds His lost sheep, if you will only lift up your heart to the Savior of the world, He will find you. He will rescue you. He will lift you up and place you on His shoulders. He will carry you home.”

— President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “He Will Place You on His Shoulders and Carry You Home,” April 2016

Share in I, Even I, Will Seek, after reading Ezekiel 34:11–16.

Read the talk ↗

Songs

  • The Lord Is My Shepherd Hymns, no. 108

    Ezekiel 34 promises that the Lord Himself will shepherd His scattered sheep. Find it ↗

  • I Know That My Redeemer Lives Hymns, no. 136

    A testimony of the living Christ, whose Resurrection gives the valley of dry bones its fullest meaning. Find it ↗

This week’s invitation

One Dry Place, One Lost Sheep

This week, bring the Lord one part of your life that feels dried up, and ask Him honestly, as Ezekiel did, what can live again. Then seek one person who feels lost or scattered: a message, a visit or an invitation.

Take it home

In Sunday School we read Ezekiel’s vision of a valley of dry bones that came together, received breath and stood up, the Lord’s answer to people who said, “our hope is lost” (Ezekiel 37:11). He promised, “A new heart also will I give you” (36:26). Take it home: read Ezekiel 37:1–10 aloud together, and talk about something that once felt hopeless but came back to life.

📝 After class

What worked? Who needs a check-in this week? Jot it here on a printed copy, or in the app’s private class notes.

Got extra time?

🗼 The Watchman · 4 min

  1. Read Ezekiel 33:7–11. The watchman must warn, and the Lord says He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked: “turn ye, turn ye.”
  2. Read Ezekiel 33:31–32, where people treat the prophet like “a very lovely song” they enjoy but don’t act on.
  3. Ask: “How do we keep prophetic counsel from becoming pleasant background music?”

🪵 Two Sticks, One Hand · 4 min

  1. Read Ezekiel 37:15–17, the stick of Judah and the stick of Joseph joined into one.
  2. Read 2 Nephi 3:12, where the Lord promises that the writings of Judah and of Joseph “shall grow together.”
  3. Ask: “How have the Bible and the Book of Mormon worked together in your own testimony of Jesus Christ?”

🪑 I Sat Where They Sat · 3 min

  1. Read Ezekiel 3:15. Before Ezekiel said a word, he sat with the captives for seven days.
  2. Ask: “Why does sitting where someone sits come before speaking to them? Who might need that from us?”

Sources

Scripture quotations are from the King James Version, the Bible used by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Tap or click a reference to open it in Gospel Library. Start with the official Come, Follow Me manual; these ideas are here to help it come alive.

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