Week 687 · about 45 minutes
Proverbs 23
Proverbs 23 · Memory verse Proverbs 23:24
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Proverbs 23), the matching word search and answer key (Proverbs 23 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a folded cloth
Hold a folded cloth. Read Proverbs 23 in about four minutes, stopping at Proverbs 23:24: “The father of the righteous has great joy. Whoever fathers a wise child delights in him.” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Proverbs 23?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Proverbs 23 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “When you sit to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before you;” 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, “Indeed surely there is a future hope, and your hope will not be cut off.” Proverbs 23 opens with these words: “When you sit to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before you;” The line to keep is Proverbs 23:24: “The father of the righteous has great joy. Whoever fathers a wise child delights in him.” Carry the word “father” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Proverbs 23:24: “The father of the righteous has great joy. Whoever fathers a wise child delights in him.” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Proverbs 23? Then try this: Read “The father of the righteous has great joy. Whoever fathers a wise child delights in him.” 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 Proverbs 23. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Proverbs 23:24. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Proverbs 23 and write Proverbs 23:24 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Proverbs 23:24
“The father of the righteous has great joy. Whoever fathers a wise child delights in him.”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Proverbs 23. Help us remember Proverbs 23:24 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.