Week 244 · about 45 minutes
Joshua 16
Joshua 16 · Memory verse Joshua 16:4
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Joshua 16), the matching word search and answer key (Joshua 16 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a smooth stone
Hold a smooth stone. Read Joshua 16 in about four minutes, stopping at Joshua 16:4: “The children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance.” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Joshua 16?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Joshua 16 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “The lot came out for the children of Joseph from the Jordan at Jericho, at the waters of Jericho on the east, even the wilderness, going up from Jericho through the hill country to Bethel.” 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, “The border went out westward at Michmethath on the north. The border turned about eastward to Taanath Shiloh, and passed along it on the east of Janoah.” Joshua 16 opens with these words: “The lot came out for the children of Joseph from the Jordan at Jericho, at the waters of Jericho on the east, even the wilderness, going…” The line to keep is Joshua 16:4: “The children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance.” Carry the word “children” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Joshua 16:4: “The children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance.” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Joshua 16? Then try this: Read “The children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance.” 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 Joshua 16. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Joshua 16:4. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Joshua 16 and write Joshua 16:4 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Joshua 16:4
“The children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance.”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Joshua 16. Help us remember Joshua 16:4 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.