Week 471 · about 45 minutes
Esther 9
Esther 9 · Memory verse Esther 9:3
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Esther 9), the matching word search and answer key (Esther 9 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a wooden spoon
Hold a wooden spoon. Read Esther 9 in about four minutes, stopping at Esther 9:3: “All the princes of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and those who did the king’s business helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them.” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Esther 9?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Esther 9 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “Now in the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the month, when the king’s commandment and his decree came near to be put in execution, on the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to conquer them, (but it was turned out the opposite happened, that the Jews conquered those who hated them),” 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, “This was done on the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on the fourteenth day of that month they rested and made it a day of feasting and gladness.” Esther 9 opens with these words: “Now in the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the month, when the king’s commandment and his decree came…” The line to keep is Esther 9:3: “All the princes of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and those who did the king’s business helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had fallen…” Carry the word “princes” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Esther 9:3: “All the princes of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and those who did the king’s business helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them.” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Esther 9? Then try this: Read “All the princes of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and those who did the king’s business helped…” 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 9. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Esther 9:3. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Esther 9 and write Esther 9:3 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Esther 9:3
“All the princes of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and those who did the king’s business helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them.”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Esther 9. Help us remember Esther 9:3 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.