Week 264 · about 45 minutes
Judges 12
Judges 12 · Memory verse Judges 12:2
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Judges 12), the matching word search and answer key (Judges 12 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a smooth stone
Hold a smooth stone. Read Judges 12 in about four minutes, stopping at Judges 12:2: “Jephthah said to them, “I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, you didn’t save me out of their hand.” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Judges 12?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Judges 12 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “The men of Ephraim were gathered together, and passed northward; and they said to Jephthah, “Why did you pass over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didn’t call us to go with you? We will burn your house around you with fire!”” 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, “After him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel.” Judges 12 opens with these words: “The men of Ephraim were gathered together, and passed northward; and they said to Jephthah, “Why did you pass over to fight against the…” The line to keep is Judges 12:2: “Jephthah said to them, “I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, you didn’t save me out of their hand.” Carry the word “jephthah” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Judges 12:2: “Jephthah said to them, “I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, you didn’t save me out of their hand.” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Judges 12? Then try this: Read “Jephthah said to them, “I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called…” 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 Judges 12. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Judges 12:2. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Judges 12 and write Judges 12:2 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Judges 12:2
“Jephthah said to them, “I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, you didn’t save me out of their hand.”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Judges 12. Help us remember Judges 12:2 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.