Week 462 · about 45 minutes
Nehemiah 13
Nehemiah 13 · Memory verse Nehemiah 13:2
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Nehemiah 13), the matching word search and answer key (Nehemiah 13 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a paper crown
Hold a paper crown. Read Nehemiah 13 in about four minutes, stopping at Nehemiah 13:2: “because they didn’t meet the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them, to curse them; however our God turned the curse into a blessing.” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Nehemiah 13?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Nehemiah 13 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “On that day they read in the book of Moses in the hearing of the people; and it was found written in it that an Ammonite and a Moabite should not enter into the assembly of God forever,” 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, “Some men of Tyre also lived there, who brought in fish and all kinds of wares, and sold on the Sabbath to the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem.” Nehemiah 13 opens with these words: “On that day they read in the book of Moses in the hearing of the people; and it was found written in it that an Ammonite and a Moabite…” The line to keep is Nehemiah 13:2: “because they didn’t meet the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them, to curse them; however our God turned the curse into…” Carry the word “didn” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Nehemiah 13:2: “because they didn’t meet the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them, to curse them; however our God turned the curse into a blessing.” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Nehemiah 13? Then try this: Read “because they didn’t meet the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them, to…” 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 Nehemiah 13. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Nehemiah 13:2. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Nehemiah 13 and write Nehemiah 13:2 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Nehemiah 13:2
“because they didn’t meet the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them, to curse them; however our God turned the curse into a blessing.”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Nehemiah 13. Help us remember Nehemiah 13:2 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.