Week 444 · about 45 minutes
Ezra 5
Ezra 5 · Memory verse Ezra 5:7
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Ezra 5), the matching word search and answer key (Ezra 5 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a smooth stone
Hold a smooth stone. Read Ezra 5 in about four minutes, stopping at Ezra 5:7: “They sent a letter to him, in which was written: To Darius the king, all peace.” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Ezra 5?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Ezra 5 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “Now the prophets, Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem. They prophesied to them in the name of the God of Israel.” 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 we asked those elders, and said to them thus, “Who gave you a decree to build this house, and to finish this wall?”” Ezra 5 opens with these words: “Now the prophets, Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem. They…” The line to keep is Ezra 5:7: “They sent a letter to him, in which was written: To Darius the king, all peace.” Carry the word “sent” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Ezra 5:7: “They sent a letter to him, in which was written: To Darius the king, all peace.” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Ezra 5? Then try this: Read “They sent a letter to him, in which was written: To Darius the king, all peace.” 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 Ezra 5. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Ezra 5:7. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Ezra 5 and write Ezra 5:7 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Ezra 5:7
“They sent a letter to him, in which was written: To Darius the king, all peace.”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Ezra 5. Help us remember Ezra 5:7 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.