A Nail in a Sure Place

One guy says “I will” five times and falls, one builds himself a monument and gets thrown like a ball, and one becomes the peg everything hangs on

  • 🔥 Youth 14–16
  • Week 39
  • 📅 Sunday, September 27, 2026
🤔 Forehead Guess🏆 Showdown
💡 The big idea

Pride builds everything on me and eventually falls; trust hangs my life on Jesus Christ, the nail in a sure place, and He keeps a mind that is stayed on Him in perfect peace.

I can hang my worries, my worth and my choices on Jesus Christ instead of on things that can’t hold the weight.

Know the chapters

Isaiah 13–23 is a string of warnings to the proud nations around Israel. In chapter 14 Isaiah mocks the king of Babylon, and his words reach past that king to Lucifer, the “son of the morning,” who said in his heart “I will” five times in two verses: I will ascend, exalt my throne, sit on the mount, rise above the clouds and “be like the most High” (14:12–14). The next verse is the whole story of pride: “Yet thou shalt be brought down” (14:15). Moses 4:1–2 gives the premortal side: Satan wanted God’s honor for himself, while the Beloved Son said, in effect, Thy will be done and the glory be Thine. The same Son would pray in Gethsemane, “not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42).

Isaiah 22:15–25 is a small, vivid story most youth have never heard. Shebna, the royal treasurer “over the house,” is busy carving himself an impressive tomb high in the rock so everyone will remember how important he was (22:16). The Lord says He will “toss thee like a ball into a large country” (22:18) and give Shebna’s robe, sash and authority to a humble servant named Eliakim, who will be “a father” to the people (22:21). The Lord lays “the key of the house of David” on Eliakim’s shoulder and fastens him “as a nail in a sure place” (22:22–23): a peg driven into solid stone that a whole household can hang its cups and jars on (22:24). Revelation 3:7 gives that same key of David to Jesus Christ, and the Come, Follow Me manual lists 22:22–23 among Isaiah’s pointers to the Savior. Verse 25 is hard to read and interpreters differ; keep the class on verses 22–24 and the Savior.

Fourteen- to sixteen-year-olds hang a lot on things that can’t hold the weight: a friend group, a streak, a grade, a relationship, a ranking, a picture of themselves they have to keep maintaining (Shebna’s monument, with a camera). None of those are bad; they’re cups, not the nail. Isaiah 26:3 is the promise for an anxious generation: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee.” “Stayed” means propped up, leaning on, fixed. The promise isn’t a life without pressure; it’s peace while leaning on Someone who holds.

The rest of the block is worth a line or two if a youth asks: the Lord teaches “line upon line” (28:10), which is how testimonies actually grow; Isaiah saw a sealed book that a learned man couldn’t read, fulfilled when Professor Charles Anthon told Martin Harris “I cannot read a sealed book” (29:11–12; Joseph Smith—History 1:63–65), and Nephi explains the whole chapter in 2 Nephi 27. The angel Moroni first visited Joseph Smith on the night of September 21, 1823 (Joseph Smith—History 1:27–29), when Joseph was 17. That anniversary falls this very week. Isaiah also promises that the Lord will “swallow up death in victory” (25:8) and make the desert “blossom as the rose” (35:1).

Only have 5 minutes?

Read Isaiah 22:15–24 and 26:3. Stick a sticky note on the wall and try to hang your jacket on it, then hang it on a doorknob. Let four youth run the Scripture Scene from Teach Mode while you read the Lord’s lines. Do Nail or Sticky Note?, have a youth lead Isaiah 26:3, play I Will or Thy Will? with the Name Spinner, and let the discussion questions do the rest. End with one sentence of testimony that the Savior has held when other things didn’t. Brought nothing? Tap “I brought nothing”: every step has a no-supplies version.

What to bring5 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. Test the sticky note at home. It should hold for about half a second and then drop your jacket. The fall is the whole joke.
  2. Text one youth on Saturday: “Will you read the Narrator part in a quick scripture scene on Sunday? Isaiah 14 and 22. There’s a guy who gets thrown like a ball.” Text a second youth: “Will you lead a 4-minute part of class on Isaiah 26:3? Come ready to ask what people our age can’t stop thinking about at night.”
  3. Read Isaiah 22:15–24 out loud once. The Shebna part is almost comedy; enjoy it and they will too.
  4. Think of one time you hung too much on something that couldn’t hold it (a plan, a person, an achievement) and how the Savior held when it fell. You’ll share it in 60 seconds or less.
  5. Add your youth to My Class in the app so the Name Spinner can pick players for the game.

If your class is wild

  • Let them laugh at Shebna. His monument is really funny, and once they’ve laughed at it they’ll recognize their own highlight reel without you having to point at it.
  • Nobody plays Lucifer. The whole room counts his “I will”s by rising higher, then drops together. It keeps the energy high without anyone playing the villain.
  • Don’t turn the Nail or Sticky Note game into a guilt trip. Friends, grades and teams are good cups. The only point is that none of them can be the nail.
  • The perfect-peace cards are private. Some youth are carrying real anxiety; if someone opens up, thank them, don’t fix it in front of everyone, and follow up with them or their parents after class.
  • If the room goes quiet in the discussion, pair them up first (“tell the person next to you”) and then ask pairs to report.

The 25-minute plan25 min + bonus

Bonus steps are for when you have extra time. Steps that mention Teach Mode, the Sound Board or other class games refer to the Gospel Sparks app; on the web you can play Forehead Guess and Scripture Showdown from this page.

1. Hook

Would You Hang It Here?

3 min

A jacket falling off a sticky note makes the lesson’s question physical: what are you hanging your life on?

  1. Before anyone sits, stick a sticky note on the wall at shoulder height. Hold up your jacket (or the backpack with books in it).
  2. SAY“Quick poll. I’m hanging this on that sticky note. Thumbs up if it holds, thumbs down if it doesn’t.” Try it. Let it fall. Enjoy the reaction.
  3. Hang it on the doorknob or a real hook. Say: “Same jacket. Different place. The difference isn’t the jacket; it’s what it’s hanging on.”
  4. Ask: “What do people our age hang their whole day on? Their mood, their confidence, whether they feel okay?” Take quick answers (a text back, a grade, a game, a friend group, how a picture turned out).
  5. SAY“Isaiah describes a man God fastens ‘as a nail in a sure place,’ so a whole family can hang everything on him. Today’s question: what are you hanging on?”
🌪️ Let a volunteer try the sticky note too. The second fall gets a bigger laugh than the first.

Class screen: 🧥📝 Would you hang your jacket on a sticky note? · “a nail in a sure place” – Isaiah 22:23

No supplies? Do this instead

Instead of: A jacket, hoodie or backpack with a couple of books in it, plus one sticky note

Would You Hang It Here? (Thumbs Edition)

  1. SAY“Quick poll. I’m hanging a backpack full of textbooks on each of these. Thumbs up if it holds, thumbs down if it doesn’t.”
  2. Rapid fire: a sticky note · a spider web · a wet paper towel · a doorknob · a steel hook screwed into a wall stud. Tap the crash sound on the Sound Board for every thumbs-down.
  3. SAY“Same backpack every time. The difference is what it’s hanging on.” Ask: “What do people our age hang their whole day on?” Take quick answers.
  4. SAY“Isaiah describes a man God fastens ‘as a nail in a sure place,’ so a whole family can hang everything on him. Today’s question: what are you hanging on?”

Class screen: 🎒 Would it hold a backpack full of textbooks? · Sticky note · spider web · wet paper towel · doorknob · steel hook

2. Story

Scripture Scene: The Monument, the Ball and the Nail

6 min

Isaiah’s own contrast, acted out: pride builds a monument to itself and falls, while the Lord’s servant becomes the sure nail that points to Jesus Christ.

  1. Hand out roles (tap Roles in Teach Mode). Give the Narrator part to the youth you texted and Shebna to your best ham. Say: “No one plays the Lord, and no one plays Lucifer. When the Lord speaks, I’ll read His words.”
  2. Give the scrap paper to someone in the Crowd and tell them to hold it until scene 4.
  3. Run the scenes. The Narrator and Isaiah read from real scriptures; the screen keeps everyone on track.
  4. At scene 6, slow down. Let every person in the Crowd hang something on Eliakim’s arm.
  5. Afterward ask: “Shebna and Eliakim had the same robe and the same keys. What was the actual difference between them?” (One used it all to build a monument to himself; the other became something other people could lean on.)
🌪️ If the Crowd gets rowdy, give them a job in every scene: rising for the “I will”s, bowing to Shebna, hanging cups on Eliakim. Busy crowds don’t heckle.

Class screen: 🔩 The Monument, the Ball and the Nail (Isaiah 14 and 22) · One builds a monument. · One gets thrown like a ball. · One becomes the nail.

No supplies? Do this instead

Instead of: A sheet of scrap paper to crumple into a ball (Shebna gets tossed like one)

Scripture Scene: The Invisible Ball

  1. Hand out roles. Say: “No one plays the Lord, and no one plays Lucifer. When the Lord speaks, I’ll read His words.”
  2. Run the scenes. At scene 4, the whole Crowd winds up and throws one giant invisible ball together while you tap the whoosh sound on the Sound Board. Shebna follows it to the far corner.
  3. At scene 6, slow down. Let every person in the Crowd hang something on Eliakim’s arm.
  4. Afterward ask: “Shebna and Eliakim had the same robe and the same keys. What was the actual difference between them?”
3. Wiggle break

Nail or Sticky Note?

2 min

Standing and sagging makes youth sort the good things in their lives into cups and the one thing that can be the nail.

  1. Everyone stands. Say: “I’ll name something people hang their day on. If it can hold the full weight of your whole life, stand solid like a nail. If it’s good but would pull loose under all that weight, sag slowly toward the floor like a sticky note losing its grip.”
  2. Read fast: your streak · your team winning · your best friend · your GPA · your parents’ love · your follower count · your future plans · Jesus Christ.
  3. Stop on one where the room split and ask one person from each side why.
  4. SAY“Most of those are good. They’re cups. You’re supposed to hang them somewhere. Only one thing in the list is the nail.”

Class screen: 🔩📝 Can it hold your whole life? Nail = stand. Sticky note = sag. · Good things are cups. · Only one thing is the nail.

4. Scripture

Youth-Led: Perfect Peace

4 min

A youth teaches the key verse and connects “perfect peace” to the real things that keep people their age up at night.

  1. Hand it to the youth you texted. They read Isaiah 26:3–4 aloud while everyone follows in their own scriptures, then teach the motions once.
  2. The youth asks: “‘Stayed’ means propped up, leaning on, fixed on. What is a teenager’s mind stayed on at 11:30 on a school night?” Let the answers be honest (the group chat, a test, something someone said, the future) and don’t comment on them.
  3. The youth asks: “The promise isn’t ‘no problems.’ It’s peace, ‘because he trusteth in thee.’ What’s the difference?”
  4. Hand out a card to each person. Say: “Private. On one side, write the thing your mind keeps getting stuck on. On the other, write Isaiah 26:3 and one small way you’ll turn your mind to the Savior when it starts spinning: a prayer in your head, a hymn, one verse before bed, talking to someone you trust.” Nobody shares. Invite them to keep it in their phone case.
🌪️ If the youth teacher freezes, step in as a co-teacher, not a rescuer: “Great question. Let me add one…” then hand it back.

Class screen: 🕊️ “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee” · Isaiah 26:3 · What is your mind stayed on at 11:30 p.m.?

No supplies? Do this instead

Instead of: Index cards or scrap paper and a pen for each youth

Youth-Led: Perfect Peace (Phone Note Edition)

  1. The youth you texted reads Isaiah 26:3–4 aloud while everyone follows along, then teaches the motions once.
  2. The youth asks: “What is a teenager’s mind stayed on at 11:30 on a school night?” Let answers come without commentary.
  3. The youth asks: “The promise isn’t ‘no problems.’ It’s peace, ‘because he trusteth in thee.’ What’s the difference?”
  4. SAY“Private. Open a note on your phone. Type the thing your mind keeps getting stuck on. Then delete it and type Isaiah 26:3 and one way you’ll turn to the Savior when your mind starts spinning.” (No phone? Just picture it and say the verse silently.)

Class screen: 🕊️ Type the worry. Delete it. Type Isaiah 26:3. · Isaiah 26:3

5. Game

I Will or Thy Will?

4 min

A fast team game helps youth spot what pride sounds like in a real situation and what trusting the Lord would actually look like.

  1. Split into two teams. Tap the Name Spinner to choose who answers for each team.
  2. Read a scenario. The spun player has 10 seconds to say two things: what pride would do (“I will…”) and what trusting the Lord would actually look like (“Thy will…”). Best real-life answer scores. Cheesy Sunday answers get a group groan and zero points.
  3. Scenarios: “Your friend group is roasting someone in a group chat and waiting for you to add something.” · “A teacher calls you out in front of everyone, and you know you were wrong.” · “You didn’t make the team; your best friend did.” · “Someone asks you a gospel question you can’t answer.” · “Your parents set a rule you think is unfair.” · “You post something you’re proud of and it gets almost no likes.”
  4. Final question for everybody: “What did every ‘I will’ answer have in common?” (It protected my image, my throne, my monument. That’s Shebna.)
🌪️ If one person dominates, add a rule: no answering twice in a row. The spinner keeps it fair.
🎡 Name Spinner (a class game in the Gospel Sparks app)

Class screen: ⚖️ I will… or Thy will? You have 10 seconds. · Pride builds a monument. · Trust hangs on the nail. · Cheesy answers score zero.

6. Talk it over

Real Talk: What Are You Hanging On?

4 min

Honest questions connect Shebna, the sure nail, line upon line and the marvelous work to the lives youth are actually living.

  1. Sit in a circle. Ask a youth to read the questions from the screen and choose who answers.
  2. Share one honest answer of your own early. Your honesty sets the depth for everyone else.
  3. Let silence sit for five seconds before rescuing a question.
💬 Ask the class
  • Shebna carved a monument so people would remember how important he was. What does a modern “monument to me” look like? Is it always wrong to want to be noticed?
  • Isaiah 28:10 says the Lord teaches “line upon line… here a little, and there a little.” Why do you think He doesn’t hand us a full testimony all at once?
  • Isaiah 29:13 describes people who honor God with their lips while their hearts are far away. How can you tell when your religion has turned into just words, and what brings your heart back?
  • Moroni first visited Joseph Smith this week in 1823, when Joseph was 17. Isaiah said the sealed book would go to someone “not learned.” What does that tell you about who God uses for His marvelous work?
  • When has leaning on Jesus Christ, not just knowing about Him, actually held for you or someone you know?

Class screen: 💬 Real talk: what are you hanging on?

7. Testimony

The Nail That Holds

2 min

A short, real testimony from the teacher shows what it looks like to hang your life on the Savior.

  1. Lower your voice. Share briefly the time you hung too much on something that couldn’t hold it, and how the Savior held when it fell.
  2. SAY“Lucifer said ‘I will’ five times and fell. The Savior said ‘not my will, but thine, be done,’ and He’s the one thing in my life that has never pulled out of the wall.” Then one sentence of your own testimony of Jesus Christ.
  3. Give the Check Your Nail challenge on the screen. Invite a youth to pray.

Class screen: 🔩 Hang it all on Him. He holds. · Isaiah 22:23 · Isaiah 26:3

8. Game

Scripture Showdown

4 minBONUS

A quick team quiz reviews the scene and the rest of the week’s chapters.

  1. Keep the same two teams. Tap Scripture Showdown.
  2. Teams get 10 seconds to decide. Bonus point if they can find the verse in under 20 seconds.

Class screen: 🏆 Scripture Showdown: Isaiah 13–35

9. Game

Forehead Guess: Sure Place Edition

3 minBONUS

A quick, funny review of the people and images from this week’s Isaiah chapters.

  1. Tap Forehead Guess. The guesser holds your phone or tablet to their forehead; the class gives clues.
  2. Hard mode for this age: clue-givers can only use actions, no words, for the first 10 seconds of each card.

Class screen: 🤔 Forehead Guess: Sure Place Edition

Story drama

Scripture Scene: The Monument, the Ball and the Nail

Isaiah 14:12–15; 22:15–24 ↗

Parts to hand out

  • NarratorReads the scripture lines straight from Isaiah 14 and 22, like a sports announcer calling a play.
  • IsaiahMarches up to Shebna, points at his monument and demands, “What hast thou here?”
  • ShebnaThe royal treasurer. Struts, jingles his keys, poses next to his monument, then gets tossed out of the scene.
  • EliakimA humble servant who gets Shebna’s robe and key, then stands rock-solid while everyone hangs things on him.
  • The MonumentStands on the spot as Shebna’s tomb, frozen in the most dramatic pose possible.
  • The CrowdEveryone else: counts the “I will”s by rising, reacts, throws the ball and hangs their cups on the nail.

Scenes

  1. 🌟⬆️ Five “I will”s and one very long fall

    Isaiah starts by mocking Babylon’s proud king, and his words reach past him to Lucifer, the son of the morning. Count how many times he says “I will.” He wants a throne above the stars of God. He wants to be like the Most High.

    🎬 The Narrator reads Isaiah 14:12–15. The Crowd starts seated and rises a little higher on every “I will”: sit tall, stand, tiptoe, arms up, reach for the ceiling. On “Yet thou shalt be brought down,” everyone drops back into their seats.

  2. 🤴🔑 Meanwhile in Jerusalem: a very important man

    Now meet Shebna, the royal treasurer, the man “over the house.” He runs the palace. He has the keys. He would like you to know that he has the keys.

    🎬 The Narrator reads Isaiah 22:15. Shebna struts a lap around the room jingling invisible keys. The Crowd bows way too low.

  3. 🗿🤳 He carves himself a monument

    Shebna is busy hewing out a fancy tomb high in the rock, so that long after he’s gone, everyone will see how important he was. Isaiah walks up and asks the question: “What hast thou here?” Who is all this for?

    🎬 The Monument strikes a pose. Shebna takes pretend selfies next to it from every angle. Isaiah reads Isaiah 22:16 and points at the whole setup.

  4. ⚾💨 Tossed like a ball into a large country

    The Lord’s answer (the teacher reads it; no one plays the Lord): He will “toss thee like a ball into a large country.” The monument stays empty. The man who built everything on himself gets thrown out of his own story.

    🎬 The teacher reads Isaiah 22:18–19. One person in the Crowd crumples the scrap paper into a ball and lobs it gently to the far corner. Shebna follows it and sits down there.

  5. 🧑‍⚖️🗝️ Enter Eliakim, the servant

    The Lord calls a servant named Eliakim. He gets Shebna’s robe, his sash and his authority, but he uses them differently: he will be “a father” to the people. Then the Lord lays “the key of the house of David” on his shoulder.

    🎬 The teacher reads Isaiah 22:20–22. The Crowd “dresses” Eliakim in an invisible robe and sash. Eliakim rests a giant invisible key on one shoulder.

  6. 🔩🧱 A nail in a sure place

    “I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place.” In Isaiah’s day, a peg driven deep into solid stone held a household’s cups and jars. Isaiah says the whole family will hang everything on Eliakim, from the tiniest cup to the biggest jug, and he holds.

    🎬 The teacher reads Isaiah 22:23–24. Eliakim stands feet planted with one arm out like a peg. One by one, the Crowd hangs invisible cups, jars and backpacks on his arm. He doesn’t budge.

  7. ✝️🗝️ Who really holds the key?

    Centuries later, in Revelation 3:7, Jesus Christ describes Himself as “he that hath the key of David.” Eliakim was pointing at the Savior. Lucifer said “I will” five times. Jesus said to His Father, “not my will, but thine, be done.” He is the nail that never pulls out of the wall.

    🎬 The Narrator reads Revelation 3:7, then the teacher reads Luke 22:42. The Crowd stands once more, not on tiptoe this time: feet flat, steady, like a nail in stone.

  8. 🧠🕊️ “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace”

    Here’s what hanging on the sure nail feels like from the inside. Isaiah says the Lord keeps in perfect peace the person whose mind is stayed, propped up and leaning, on Him, because they trust Him.

    🎬 Everyone reads Isaiah 26:3 together from their scriptures. Then five full seconds of silence. Shebna quietly walks back and sits with the group.

Key verse

Isaiah 26:3 ↗
“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”
In plain words: When your mind leans on the Lord instead of spinning on everything else, He will keep you in a peace nothing else can give, because you trust Him.
🙌 “Thou wilt keep him” = both hands cupped, holding something safe · “in perfect peace” = hands slowly flatten out, calm, like smoothing water · “whose mind is stayed on thee” = two fingers to your temple, then point up · “because he trusteth in thee” = lean your weight onto one foot, like leaning on a wall that holds.

More verses

Isaiah 22:23 ↗
“And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father’s house.”
In plain words: The Lord fastens His servant like a peg in solid rock, so everything can hang on him. It points to Jesus Christ, who never pulls loose.
Isaiah 14:13–14 ↗
“I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God… I will be like the most High.”
In plain words: Pride’s whole vocabulary is “I will.” It always ends with a fall (14:15).
Isaiah 28:10 ↗
“precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little”
In plain words: God doesn’t dump a whole testimony on you at once. He builds it a line at a time, a little here and a little there.
Isaiah 29:14 ↗
“I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder”
In plain words: The Lord promised something amazing: the Book of Mormon and the restored gospel, the “marvelous work” we get to be part of.

Forehead Guess words17 words

  • 🌟 Lucifer
  • 🦚 Pride
  • 🏰 Babylon
  • 🤴 Shebna
  • 🗿 Monument
  • ⚾ Ball
  • 🧑‍⚖️ Eliakim
  • 🔩 Nail
  • 🗝️ Key of David
  • 🕊️ Perfect peace
  • 📏 Line upon line
  • 🔒 Sealed book
  • ✨ Marvelous work
  • 👦 Joseph Smith
  • 📘 Book of Mormon
  • ⛈️ Refuge
  • 🌹 Rose
Clues for each word
  • Lucifer: Son of the morning who said “I will” five times
  • Pride: Wanting your throne above everyone else’s
  • Babylon: Proud empire that became a symbol of the world
  • Shebna: Treasurer who carved himself a fancy tomb
  • Monument: Something you build so people remember you
  • Ball: Shebna got tossed like one (22:18)
  • Eliakim: The servant fastened as a nail in a sure place
  • Nail: A peg in solid stone that holds everything
  • Key of David: Laid on Eliakim’s shoulder; Jesus holds it
  • Perfect peace: For the mind that is stayed on the Lord
  • Line upon line: How God teaches: here a little, there a little
  • Sealed book: “I cannot; for it is sealed”
  • Marvelous work: “…and a wonder” (Isaiah 29:14)
  • Joseph Smith: Not learned, but translated by God’s power
  • Book of Mormon: A voice whispering out of the dust
  • Refuge: A shelter from the storm (25:4)
  • Rose: What the desert will blossom like (35:1)
▶ Play Forehead GuessFull screen, 60-second timer, works on any phone.

Scripture Showdown9 questions

  1. How many times does Lucifer say “I will” in Isaiah 14:13–14?
    • A. Two
    • B. Five
    • C. Ten
    Show answer

    ✅ B. Five Ascend, exalt, sit, ascend, be like the Most High. Then verse 15: brought down.

  2. What was Shebna busy building for himself?
    • A. A tomb carved high in the rock
    • B. A tower to heaven
    • C. A new palace gate
    Show answer

    ✅ A. A tomb carved high in the rock Isaiah 22:16. A monument so everyone would remember how important he was.

  3. The Lord said Shebna would be tossed like a…
    • A. feather
    • B. ball
    • C. stone
    Show answer

    ✅ B. ball Isaiah 22:18: “toss thee like a ball into a large country.”

  4. What did the Lord lay on Eliakim’s shoulder?
    • A. A heavy yoke
    • B. A lamb
    • C. The key of the house of David
    Show answer

    ✅ C. The key of the house of David Isaiah 22:22. Revelation 3:7 says Jesus Christ holds the key of David.

  5. Isaiah 22:23: the Lord will fasten him as a nail in a…
    • A. sure place
    • B. tent
    • C. treasure chest
    Show answer

    ✅ A. sure place A peg in solid stone that a whole household can hang everything on.

  6. Isaiah 26:3: perfect peace comes to the person whose mind is…
    • A. always busy
    • B. stayed on the Lord
    • C. completely empty
    Show answer

    ✅ B. stayed on the Lord “Stayed” means leaning on, propped up by. Peace comes “because he trusteth in thee.”

  7. How does Isaiah 28:10 say the Lord teaches?
    • A. All at once
    • B. Only to the learned
    • C. Line upon line
    Show answer

    ✅ C. Line upon line Here a little, and there a little. That’s how testimonies grow.

  8. In Isaiah 29, what does the learned man say about the sealed book?
    • A. “I cannot; for it is sealed”
    • B. “I will translate it”
    • C. “Give it to the king”
    Show answer

    ✅ A. “I cannot; for it is sealed” Professor Charles Anthon said almost the same thing to Martin Harris (Joseph Smith—History 1:65).

  9. Isaiah 35:1 says the desert will blossom as the…
    • A. lily
    • B. rose
    • C. olive tree
    Show answer

    ✅ B. rose The Lord can restore what is dry, lost or broken.

▶ Play Scripture ShowdownTeams take turns on one screen.

Songs

  • How Firm a Foundation Hymns, no. 85

    A hymn about something that holds when everything else shakes. Sing it after Nail or Sticky Note. Find it ↗

  • The Spirit of God Hymns, no. 2

    A Restoration hymn for Isaiah 29’s marvelous work and a wonder. Find it ↗

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

    Isaiah 25:8 promises He will swallow up death in victory. This hymn is the testimony that He did. Find it ↗

This week’s challenge

Check Your Nail

Each night this week, before you pick up your phone in bed, read Isaiah 26:3 and ask yourself: “What was my mind stayed on today?” Pick one worry, decision or person to hang on the Savior tomorrow. Bonus: read Isaiah 29:11–14 next to Joseph Smith—History 1:63–65 and see how close the professor’s words are to Isaiah’s.

Text the parents

This week in class we acted out Isaiah 22: Shebna built himself a monument and got “tossed like a ball,” while Eliakim became “a nail in a sure place” that a whole family could hang everything on, pointing to Jesus Christ. We talked about what teens hang their mood and worth on, and read Isaiah 26:3: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee.” Ask your teen: in the Nail or Sticky Note game, what did the class argue about most?

📝 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 Sealed Book Case File · 6 min

  1. Split the room in half. One half reads Isaiah 29:11–12; the other reads Joseph Smith—History 1:63–65.
  2. Each side reports what happened in their passage. Ask: “How close are the professor’s words to Isaiah’s, written about 2,500 years earlier?”
  3. Read Isaiah 29:14 and ask: “Why are ‘marvellous’ and ‘wonder’ good words for the Book of Mormon coming forth? What part of that marvelous work are you part of?”
  4. Mention that Nephi explains the whole chapter in 2 Nephi 27, if anyone wants the full breakdown.

⛈️ Refuge from the Storm · 4 min

  1. Read Isaiah 25:4 and 25:8 together.
  2. Ask: “Isaiah says the Lord is a refuge from the storm, not a promise that storms won’t come. Which one do you actually need right now?”
  3. Invite anyone who has lost someone to share, only if they want to, what “He will swallow up death in victory” means to them. Share first if you have an experience of your own.

🌹 Make the Desert Bloom · 4 min

  1. Read Isaiah 35:1–2 and 35:10.
  2. Ask: “What feels like a desert for teenagers right now: at school, online, in friendships, at home?”
  3. Challenge: each person picks one ‘desert’ they could help bloom this week for someone else: a text, an invite, sitting by someone new. Read 35:10 as the promise that sorrow and sighing will flee away.

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.

All Youth 14–16 lessons