Week 470 · about 45 minutes
Esther 8
Esther 8 · Memory verse Esther 8:16
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Esther 8), the matching word search and answer key (Esther 8 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a ribbon
Hold a ribbon. Read Esther 8 in about four minutes, stopping at Esther 8:16: “The Jews had light, gladness, joy, and honor.” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Esther 8?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Esther 8 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “On that day, King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, the Jews’ enemy, to Esther the queen. Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he was to her.” 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 the king’s scribes were called at that time, in the third month, which is the month Sivan, on the twenty-third day of the month; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded to the Jews, and to the satraps, and the governors and princes of the provinces which are from India to Ethiopia, one hundred twenty-seven provinces, to every province according to its writing, and to every people in their language, and to the Jews in their writing, and in their language.” Esther 8 opens with these words: “On that day, King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, the Jews’ enemy, to Esther the queen. Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had…” The line to keep is Esther 8:16: “The Jews had light, gladness, joy, and honor.” Carry the word “jews” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Esther 8:16: “The Jews had light, gladness, joy, and honor.” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Esther 8? Then try this: Read “The Jews had light, gladness, joy, and honor.” 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 Esther 8. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Esther 8:16. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Esther 8 and write Esther 8:16 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Esther 8:16
“The Jews had light, gladness, joy, and honor.”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Esther 8. Help us remember Esther 8:16 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.