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How much do you know about the prophet Jeremiah? If you’re like the average person, you don’t know much, even though the Book of Jeremiah is the longest book in the entire Bible. Although there is much to learn from Jeremiah, we sometimes don’t study his life as carefully as we should.
But for Latter-day Saints, Jeremiah is one of the Old Testament books we should study the most! Lehi and Nephi lived in the time of Jeremiah, and the events that are described in Jeremiah set the stage for the Book of Mormon. The Book of Jeremiah is worth your time and effort.
The purpose of this page is to give you a few resources for understanding Jeremiah.
Overview Video
First, you might enjoy this overview video I made of the storyline of Jeremiah and lessons we can learn from his life.
The Jeremiah Movie
Second, try watching the full-length movie, “Jeremiah.” It stars Patrick Dempsey, who does a great job portraying Jeremiah. It’s not 100% scriptural, but it does include many scenes from the Book of Jeremiah and will help make them come alive for you! If you’re teaching a class on Jeremiah, you might particularly be interested in this clip that goes along with Jeremiah 7:1-11, or this clip that goes with Jeremiah 27-28.
Reading the Storyline
If you just want to read the storyline of Jeremiah (skipping the chapters that consist primarily of Jeremiah’s rebukes to the people), read Jeremiah 1, 7, 11:18-23, 18, 26, 19-20, 35, 36, 27-28, 37-43. This follows the approximate chronological order of Jeremiah’s life. There are so many amazing lesser-known stories connected with Jeremiah…I definitely recommend reading the above chapters! For more information about reading Jeremiah in chronological order, see this page.
Reading With an Alternate Translation
Try reading Jeremiah using the New Living Translation. This version is written at a 6th grade reading level, which can be helpful when we’re approaching a complicated text for the first time. Reading the storyline chapters listed above in the NLT will be fun! Is it okay to use alternate versions? Yes, read more here.
Podcasts
I was a guest on the Follow Him Podcast for Jeremiah 1-29. Listen to Part 1 and Part 2.
S. Michael Wilcox was the Follow Him Podcast for the second half of Jeremiah. Listen to Part 1 and Part 2.
You might also enjoy Jared Halverson’s careful chapter-by-chapter study of Jeremiah in “Unshaken Saints.” (Part 1, Part 2).
I also have really enjoyed Tyler Griffin, Taylor Halvorson and George Pierce’s presentations on “Come Follow Me Insights” (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3), and Emily Freeman and David Butler’s insights on “Don’t Miss this.” (Part 1, Part 2).
Contact me and tell me your favorite parts of Jeremiah!
9 thoughts on “Resources for Studying Jeremiah”
I’m excited to study the scriptures with Brother Hilton III’s insights! Thank you, Brother Hilton, for sharing your knowledge with us.
Thank you for the many resources and insights you share. By doing what was hard personally in your scholarship and discipleship you have made it far easier for fellow sojourners like myself to navigate the path. I recognize the cost of that is also born by your wife and family. Thank you to them also. May you be blessed and know that you are making a difference and have helped me to better know and follow my Savior.
Thank you for your follow him podcast and this website! I have to teach on Jeremiah and so much is skipped over and there are such great words for us! I watched the movie and then listened to your recap and it helped a lot to see and then review again. Again thank you!!
Wow. In studying to teach this week’s Come, Follow Me to a class, I have seen so many parallels in the pattern of prophets between Joseph Smith, Jesus, Mormon, Abinadi, and Alma the Younger, and Jeremiah, that I hadn’t noticed before; but in seeing this movie rendition, I definitely see the parallels to the Crucifixion and Joseph Smith’s Liberty Jail experience that help me see the pattern of injustice that the godly apparently must experience in ways that honestly horrify me, that help me to understand to yet another level how awful things were for prophets through time, and I don’t understand that pattern exactly, only I’m sure God does; but I’m thankful that so many witnesses of God would endure this to make it clear to us that they knew what they are talking about–endure the process of witnessing, of living the pattern. And I see the great need to pray for prophets and why we believe in doing that in the temple so regularly besides our own prayers. And I think that after the fact of his own prison temple, Joseph Smith has learned how his life fit into the pattern and would rejoice, but man is that rejoicing earned hard. It softens my heart a lot for sure. And to think that probably a great deal of the way the film people chose to portray this envisioning of Jeremiah didn’t even come from their awareness of these patterns; it’s just that simply telling the stories as they come to us reveals the same details and pathos of all prophets who have experienced this for all of history. Sad. And I’m thankful you recommended the movie!
I’m just starting the movie but I keep watching it looking for what isn’t 100% scriptural. I will need to read over Jeremiah after I finish but are there any spots that you want to point out?
A lot of it isn’t scriptural…some scenes connect with Jeremiah 7, 28, 36, and 38, among others. I linked to two specific scriptural clips within the post. Hope that helps!
I can’t thank you enough for your scholarship, insights, and generosity in providing such rich resources.
It’s really interesting learning about all the different prophets! I love listening to the podcast com follow him about Jeremiah!
Very grateful for your directing us to these resources!