Week 445 · about 45 minutes
Ezra 6
Ezra 6 · Memory verse Ezra 6:16
Get the free weekly Sunday school and bedtime printable pack
For a parent or teacher. Children do not make accounts here. The pack is a week of printables, not a child profile.
Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Ezra 6), the matching word search and answer key (Ezra 6 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a piece of bread
Hold a piece of bread. Read Ezra 6 in about four minutes, stopping at Ezra 6:16: “The children of Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy.” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Ezra 6?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Ezra 6 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “Then Darius the king made a decree, and the house of the archives, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon, was searched.” 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, “May the God who has caused his name to dwell there overthrow all kings and peoples who stretch out their hand to alter the same, to destroy this house of God which is at Jerusalem. I Darius have made a decree. Let it be done with all diligence.” Ezra 6 opens with these words: “Then Darius the king made a decree, and the house of the archives, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon, was searched.” The line to keep is Ezra 6:16: “The children of Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy.” Carry the word “children” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Ezra 6:16: “The children of Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy.” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Ezra 6? Then try this: Read “The children of Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept 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 Ezra 6. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Ezra 6:16. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Ezra 6 and write Ezra 6:16 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Ezra 6:16
“The children of Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy.”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Ezra 6. Help us remember Ezra 6:16 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.