Week 216 · about 45 minutes
Deuteronomy 21
Deuteronomy 21 · Memory verse Deuteronomy 21:15
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Deuteronomy 21), the matching word search and answer key (Deuteronomy 21 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a cup of water
Hold a cup of water. Read Deuteronomy 21 in about four minutes, stopping at Deuteronomy 21:15: “If a man has two wives, the one beloved, and the other hated, and they have borne him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son is hers who was hated;” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Deuteronomy 21?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Deuteronomy 21 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “If someone is found slain in the land which Yahweh your God gives you to possess, lying in the field, and it isn’t known who has struck him;” 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, “then you shall bring her home to your house. She shall shave her head and trim her nails.” Deuteronomy 21 opens with these words: “If someone is found slain in the land which Yahweh your God gives you to possess, lying in the field, and it isn’t known who has struck him;” The line to keep is Deuteronomy 21:15: “If a man has two wives, the one beloved, and the other hated, and they have borne him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son is…” Carry the word “wives” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Deuteronomy 21:15: “If a man has two wives, the one beloved, and the other hated, and they have borne him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son is hers who was hated;” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Deuteronomy 21? Then try this: Read “If a man has two wives, the one beloved, and the other hated, and they have borne him children, both the…” 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 21. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Deuteronomy 21:15. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Deuteronomy 21 and write Deuteronomy 21:15 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Deuteronomy 21:15
“If a man has two wives, the one beloved, and the other hated, and they have borne him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son is hers who was hated;”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Deuteronomy 21. Help us remember Deuteronomy 21:15 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.