A king who knew the truth but feared being mocked, an outsider who acted, and a covenant written on the heart
Knowing what God wants only helps when we act on it, even when we’re afraid of what people will think; His covenant written in our hearts gives us courage, and His mercies are new every morning when we fall short.
I can act on what I already know is right, like Ebed-melech, instead of asking in secret and hoping nobody notices, and trust the Lord’s mercy to start again.
These chapters come from the last, darkest years before Jerusalem fell to Babylon. And they’re surprisingly full of hope. In Jeremiah 31:31–34 the Lord promises a new covenant: “I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts.” In Jeremiah 32, the Babylonian army is outside the walls. Jeremiah is locked in the prison court. The Lord tells him to buy a family field. It’s a sign that houses and fields would be bought in the land again, in 32:15. Investing in the future when everything looks lost is its own kind of faith.
Jeremiah 36 shows one way to respond to God’s word. Jeremiah’s scribe Baruch wrote the Lord’s warnings on a scroll and read it at the temple. King Jehoiakim had it read to him by a winter fire. Every few columns, he cut it with a penknife and threw it in the flames. He kept going until the whole scroll was gone, in 36:22–23. Neither he nor his servants were afraid, in 36:24. The Lord simply had Jeremiah dictate it again, with more words added, in 36:32. The word can be resisted, but it can’t be burned out of existence.
Zedekiah, Judah’s last king, shows another way. Lehi’s story in the Book of Mormon begins in the first year of his reign, in 1 Nephi 1:4. Zedekiah believed Jeremiah was a prophet. He had him brought in secretly and asked, “Is there any word from the LORD?” That’s 37:17. Later he asked again and promised not to harm him. Then he admitted the real reason he wouldn’t obey: “I am afraid… lest they… mock me.” That’s 38:19. He even told Jeremiah to keep the talk secret, in 38:24. Zedekiah didn’t follow the counsel, and Jerusalem fell. He was captured and lost everything he’d tried to protect, in 39:4–7. Keep this part gentle in class. One of his sons, Mulek, escaped to the Americas. His people later joined the Nephites. See Omni 1:15 and Helaman 8:21.
Ebed-melech shows a third way. He was an Ethiopian official in the king’s house, an outsider. The princes lowered Jeremiah into a pit of mud to die. Ebed-melech went to the king in public at the city gate and named the wrong out loud. He took thirty men. He even sent down old rags so the ropes wouldn’t cut Jeremiah’s arms. That’s 38:7–13. The Lord later promised to deliver him “because thou hast put thy trust in me,” in 39:18. Lamentations was written in grief after Jerusalem fell. It still says the Lord’s mercies “are new every morning,” in Lamentations 3:22–23. For 16- to 18-year-olds, the connection is covenants. Baptism, the sacrament and, soon for many, the endowment are how the Lord writes His law in a heart. Then doing right doesn’t depend on who’s watching.
Read Jeremiah 36:20–32, 37:16–17 and 38:4–20. Get everyone standing with the advice question. Tear up Jeremiah 31:33, or turn off the screen, and have them say it from memory. Tell Zedekiah’s story from the Teach Mode screens. Sort three situations into Jehoiakim, Zedekiah or Ebed-melech. End with Lamentations 3:22–23.
Tick what you have. Forgot something? Every step that needs a supply has a no-supplies version in the plan below.
Before class
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.
Getting tired, post-Halloween youth on their feet with one honest question sets up a king who asked for advice he didn’t take.
Class screen: 🙋 Ever asked for advice you already planned to ignore?
Tearing up a written verse that everyone can still recite shows what it means for God’s law to be written in the heart.
Class screen: 📜 Tear up the paper. Is the message gone? · Jeremiah 31:33 · Jeremiah 36:23
Instead of: A sheet of paper with Jeremiah 31:33 written on it in big letters
Class screen: 📱 Screen goes dark. Can you still say it? · Jeremiah 31:33
Telling the story of Zedekiah and Ebed-melech shows the difference between knowing the truth and having the courage to act on it.
Class screen: 👑 The king who asked in secret and the servant who spoke up · Jeremiah 37–39
Comparing three characters’ responses to God’s word builds a study skill and lets youth decide which one they want to be.
Class screen: 🔍 Burn it, hide it, or act on it? · Jehoiakim · Jeremiah 36:22–24 · Zedekiah · Jeremiah 38:14–20 · Ebed-melech · Jeremiah 38:7–13
Instead of: Scriptures: the youth’s own Gospel Library app, or a printed Bible for each pair
Class screen: 🔍 Burn it, hide it, or act on it? · Jehoiakim · Zedekiah · Ebed-melech
Real situations teens face show what burning, hiding or acting on God’s word looks like now.
Class screen: 🔍 Jehoiakim, Zedekiah, or Ebed-melech? Say it on three. · Burn it · Hide it · Act on it
Ending on Lamentations 3 gives every youth, including the Zedekiahs among us, a fresh start and a reason to act.
Class screen: 🌅 His compassions fail not. They are new every morning. · Lamentations 3:22–23
If the class needs to move, a gentle team pull makes the point that one person’s courage recruits others.
Class screen: 🙌 One person speaks up. Thirty people pull. · Jeremiah 38:10–13
If you have extra time, a fast team quiz reviews the whole lesson.
Class screen: 🏆 Scripture Showdown: Jeremiah 31–39
Scenes
🏚️⛓️ Jeremiah locked in a dungeon
Babylon’s army surrounds Jerusalem. The princes are furious at Jeremiah. He keeps saying the city will fall. So they beat him. They lock him in a dungeon in a scribe’s house for many days.
🙌 Ask: “What did Jeremiah do to deserve this?”
🤫👑 “Is there any word from the LORD?”
King Zedekiah has Jeremiah brought to him in secret. He leans in and asks, “Is there any word from the LORD?” Jeremiah answers, “There is.” And it’s the same hard message. The king will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.
🙌 Ask: “Why would a king ask a prophet in secret?”
😠👉 “He is in your hand”
The princes come to the king. This man is weakening the soldiers, they say. Put him to death. Zedekiah is the most powerful man in Judah. And he says, He’s in your hands. The king can’t do anything against you.
🙌 Ask: “He’s the king. Why does he say he can’t do anything?”
🕳️🟫 Lowered into the mud
The princes lower Jeremiah on ropes into a cistern in the prison court. There’s no water in it. Only mud. And Jeremiah sinks down into it. There’s no food left in the city. They expect him to die down there.
🙌 Pause. Ask: “Who in Jerusalem could stop this?”
🗣️🚪 Ebed-melech speaks up at the gate
Ebed-melech is an Ethiopian servant in the palace. He hears what happened. He doesn’t whisper. He goes straight to the king, who’s sitting in public at the city gate. These men have done evil to Jeremiah the prophet, he says. He’s going to die down there.
🙌 Ask: “What did it cost Ebed-melech to say this out loud?”
🧵🙌 Old rags, thirty men, and ropes
The king tells him to take thirty men. Ebed-melech gathers old rags and worn-out clothes. He lets them down on ropes first, so Jeremiah can pad his arms. Then they pull him up out of the mud.
🙌 Ask: “Why would he bother sending down old rags?”
😰👑 “I am afraid… lest they mock me”
Zedekiah sends for Jeremiah in secret one more time. He promises not to kill him. And he asks again. Jeremiah tells him the truth again. Obey the Lord, and you and your city will live. Then Zedekiah admits the real problem. I’m afraid. I’m afraid people will mock me.
🙌 Read Jeremiah 38:19 aloud. Ask, “Does Zedekiah’s fear sound familiar?”
🤐🔥 “Let no man know of these words”
Zedekiah gives the prophet one last instruction. Don’t tell anyone we talked. He never acted on what he knew. When Jerusalem fell, he was captured. He lost everything he’d tried to protect. But the Lord sent a message to Ebed-melech. I will deliver you, because you put your trust in Me.
🙌 Ask: “They both knew the same truth. What was different?”
“I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
More verses
“the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any word from the LORD? And Jeremiah said, There is”
“I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me. But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver thee. Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the LORD”
“For I will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword, but thy life shall be for a prey unto thee: because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the LORD.”
“It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.”
✅ A. Cut it up and burned it Jeremiah 36:23. Then Jeremiah dictated it again, with more added.
✅ B. “Is there any word from the LORD?” Jeremiah 37:17. He asked more than once and already knew the answer.
✅ C. He was afraid of being mocked Jeremiah 38:19. Fear of people beat what he knew.
✅ A. A pit of mud Jeremiah 38:6. There was no water in it, only mire.
✅ B. Ebed-melech Jeremiah 38:7–9. An outsider did what the insiders wouldn’t.
✅ C. Old rags to pad the ropes Jeremiah 38:11–12. Courage and kindness together.
✅ B. He trusted in the Lord Jeremiah 39:18: “because thou hast put thy trust in me.”
✅ B. In their hearts Covenants write it inside us, where no one can burn it.
✅ A. morning Written after Jerusalem fell. His mercy doesn’t run out.
“The Lord does not ask for perfection all at once; rather, He asks for honest and broken hearts, humble spirits, and a willing readiness to keep our covenants—even when it requires sacrifice.”
— Elder Alan R. Walker, “A Peculiar Treasure,” April 2026
Share in Which One Is It?, before the last question, for anyone who feels like a Zedekiah.
Read the talk ↗Think of one thing you know the Lord wants you to do. Maybe you’ve put it off because of what people might think. Do it this week, in the open, like Ebed-melech. Each morning, read Lamentations 3:22–23 and start fresh.
This week we studied Jeremiah 31–39 and Lamentations. One king burned God’s word. King Zedekiah secretly asked Jeremiah for the truth but was too afraid of mockery to obey, in Jeremiah 38:19. And Ebed-melech spoke up in public and pulled Jeremiah out of a pit of mud. Ask your teen which response is most common at school. What’s one thing they know is right and want to act on?
📝 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.
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.
