Week 330 · about 45 minutes
2 Samuel 24
2 Samuel 24 · Memory verse 2 Samuel 24:3
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (2 Samuel 24), the matching word search and answer key (2 Samuel 24 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a ribbon
Hold a ribbon. Read 2 Samuel 24 in about four minutes, stopping at 2 Samuel 24:3: “Joab said to the king, “Now may Yahweh your God add to the people, however many they may be, one hundred times; and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king delight in this thing?”” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with 2 Samuel 24?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
2 Samuel 24 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “Again Yahweh’s anger burned against Israel, and he moved David against them, saying, “Go, count Israel and Judah.”” 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, “So Gad came to David, and told him, and said to him, “Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ pestilence in your land? Now answer, and consider what answer I shall return to him who sent me.”” 2 Samuel 24 opens with these words: “Again Yahweh’s anger burned against Israel, and he moved David against them, saying, “Go, count Israel and Judah.”” The line to keep is 2 Samuel 24:3: “Joab said to the king, “Now may Yahweh your God add to the people, however many they may be, one hundred times; and may the eyes of my lord the king see it.…” Carry the word “joab” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is 2 Samuel 24:3: “Joab said to the king, “Now may Yahweh your God add to the people, however many they may be, one hundred times; and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king delight in this thing?”” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in 2 Samuel 24? Then try this: Read “Joab said to the king, “Now may Yahweh your God add to the people, however many they may be, one hundred…” 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 2 Samuel 24. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from 2 Samuel 24:3. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from 2 Samuel 24 and write 2 Samuel 24:3 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
2 Samuel 24:3
“Joab said to the king, “Now may Yahweh your God add to the people, however many they may be, one hundred times; and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king delight in this thing?””
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for 2 Samuel 24. Help us remember 2 Samuel 24:3 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.