Week 212 · about 45 minutes
Deuteronomy 17
Deuteronomy 17 · Memory verse Deuteronomy 17:1
Get the free weekly Sunday school and bedtime printable pack
For a parent or teacher. Children do not make accounts here. The pack is a week of printables, not a child profile.
Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Deuteronomy 17), the matching word search and answer key (Deuteronomy 17 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a paper crown
Hold a paper crown. Read Deuteronomy 17 in about four minutes, stopping at Deuteronomy 17:1: “You shall not sacrifice to Yahweh your God an ox, or a sheep, in which is a defect, or anything evil; for that is an abomination to Yahweh your God.” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Deuteronomy 17?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Deuteronomy 17 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “You shall not sacrifice to Yahweh your God an ox, or a sheep, in which is a defect, or anything evil; for that is an abomination to Yahweh your God.” That is not a motto invented for a poster. It is the first sentence a family hears when this page is opened at night.
Keep going a little further. The chapter also says, “according to the decisions of the law which they shall teach you, and according to the judgment which they shall tell you, you shall do. You shall not turn away from the sentence which they shall show you, to the right hand, nor to the left.” Deuteronomy 17 opens with these words: “You shall not sacrifice to Yahweh your God an ox, or a sheep, in which is a defect, or anything evil; for that is an abomination to Yahweh…” The line to keep is Deuteronomy 17:1: “You shall not sacrifice to Yahweh your God an ox, or a sheep, in which is a defect, or anything evil; for that is an abomination to Yahweh your God.” Carry the word “sacrifice” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Deuteronomy 17:1: “You shall not sacrifice to Yahweh your God an ox, or a sheep, in which is a defect, or anything evil; for that is an abomination to Yahweh your God.” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Deuteronomy 17? Then try this: Read “You shall not sacrifice to Yahweh your God an ox, or a sheep, in which is a defect, or anything evil; for…” once more. What does it show you about God? You do not have to finish every verse. You can close the book after the memory verse and still have read the Bible together.
Group game
Walk the room as if you are moving through Deuteronomy 17. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Deuteronomy 17:1. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Deuteronomy 17 and write Deuteronomy 17:1 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Deuteronomy 17:1
“You shall not sacrifice to Yahweh your God an ox, or a sheep, in which is a defect, or anything evil; for that is an abomination to Yahweh your God.”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Deuteronomy 17. Help us remember Deuteronomy 17:1 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.