Scholarship, context and study plans for Come, Follow Me
“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD.” — Isaiah 1:18
Come, Follow Me · Old Testament 2026 · Week 49
“He Delighteth in Mercy”
November 30 – December 6, 2026Micah; Nahum; Habakkuk; Zephaniah14 chapters · 229 verses
Four prophets across a century of upheaval. Micah sums up what the Lord asks and names Bethlehem as the Messiah's birthplace. Nahum announces Nineveh's fall. Habakkuk questions God and learns to wait. Zephaniah warns Jerusalem, then ends with the Lord singing over His people.
Chapter
Also read in
The text shown is the King James Version, the Church's preferred English Bible for classes and meetings. The General Handbook lists the ESV and NRSV as helpful translations for ages 14 and up. They are copyrighted, so they open on their publishers' sites. Highlighted verses have a study note with links to compare that verse.
Map
Place
All places on this map
Study guide
Four short books written over about 130 years. Knowing when each prophet spoke, and to whom, makes them much easier to follow.
How to read this week
Place each prophet in time. Micah speaks as Assyria destroys Israel (late 700s BC). Zephaniah speaks under King Josiah. Nahum foresees Nineveh's fall (612 BC). Habakkuk speaks as Babylon rises. The timeline puts them in order.
Notice the pattern in Micah. The book alternates between judgment and hope three times (chs. 1–2, 3–5, 6–7). Each round ends with a promise.
Read Nahum with Jonah. Jonah showed God sparing a repentant Nineveh. About 150 years later, Nahum announces its fall. God's mercy is real, and so is His justice.
Follow Habakkuk's conversation. It's a dialogue: question (1:2–4), answer (1:5–11), harder question (1:12–2:1), answer (2:2–20), then a song of trust (ch. 3).
Read Zephaniah to the end. Chapters 1–2 are among the darkest in the prophets. Chapter 3 closes with one of the most joyful passages in scripture (3:14–20).
Four prophets across a century
c. 740–700 BC — Micah prophesies in Judah (1:1)
722 BC — Samaria falls to Assyria, as Micah warned (1:6)
701 BC — Assyria's Sennacherib destroys Lachish and besieges Jerusalem
c. 640–609 BC — King Josiah's reign; Zephaniah prophesies (1:1)
612 BC — Nineveh falls to the Babylonians and Medes, as Nahum foretold
c. 605 BC — Babylon defeats Egypt and becomes dominant; Habakkuk's questions fit these years
c. 600 BC — Lehi leaves Jerusalem (1 Nephi 2)
Images and ideas to recognize
Passage
Image
What it means
Mic 3:12
Zion plowed as a field
Even the holy city is not safe when its leaders are corrupt.
Mic 4:1–3
The mountain of the Lord's house
The temple, drawing all nations to learn God's ways. Swords become plowshares.
Mic 4:4
Vine and fig tree
Peace, security and a home of your own.
Mic 5:2
Bethlehem Ephratah
A small, overlooked town chosen as the birthplace of the eternal Ruler.
Mic 6:8
Justice, mercy, humility
What the Lord actually requires, more than any offering.
Mic 7:19
Sins cast into the sea
Forgiveness so complete that the sins are gone for good.
Nah 1:15
Feet on the mountains
A messenger running with good news: the oppressor has fallen.
Hab 2:1
The watchtower
Waiting, alert and expectant, for God's answer.
Hab 3:17–18
Empty fields, a rejoicing heart
Faith that doesn't depend on circumstances.
Zeph 1:12
Searching with candles; wine on its lees
God finds the complacent who think He does nothing.
Zeph 3:17
The Lord singing
God's joy over His restored people.
Book of Mormon connections
3 Nephi 20:16–19; 21:12 — The Savior quotes Micah 4–5 to the Nephites.
Mosiah 15:14–18 — Abinadi explains the beautiful feet of those who bring good tidings (compare Nahum 1:15).
1 Nephi 1:4 — “Many prophets” warned Jerusalem in Lehi's day; Zephaniah and Habakkuk were among them.
3 Nephi 17 — The Savior's joy with the Nephite children, paired in the manual with Zephaniah 3:17.
Questions for the week
Which part of Micah 6:8 (justice, mercy or humility) is the Lord asking you to work on now?
Why might it matter that the Savior was born in a place described as “little among the thousands of Judah” (Micah 5:2)?
Habakkuk took his hardest questions straight to God and then waited. What questions are you bringing to the Lord?
Could you say Habakkuk 3:17–18 about your own circumstances? What would help you say it?
How does it feel to imagine the Lord rejoicing over you with singing (Zephaniah 3:17)?
Conference talks & Church resources
Talks the Church's lesson points to this week, plus other Church resources that teach from these chapters.
Scholarly papers
Faithful scholarship from BYU and related publishers, tagged with the chapters each one discusses.
Podcasts & video
Come, Follow Me shows and episodes covering this week's reading.