Week 822 · about 45 minutes
Jeremiah 41
Jeremiah 41 · Memory verse Jeremiah 41:3
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Jeremiah 41), the matching word search and answer key (Jeremiah 41 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a paper crown
Hold a paper crown. Read Jeremiah 41 in about four minutes, stopping at Jeremiah 41:3: “Ishmael also killed all the Jews who were with him, with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Jeremiah 41?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Jeremiah 41 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “Now in the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal offspring and one of the chief officers of the king, and ten men with him, came to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and there they ate bread together in Mizpah.” 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 Ishmael carried away captive all the of the people who were left in Mizpah, even the king’s daughters, and all the people who remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive, and departed to go over to the children of Ammon.” Jeremiah 41 opens with these words: “Now in the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal offspring and one of the chief officers of the…” The line to keep is Jeremiah 41:3: “Ishmael also killed all the Jews who were with him, with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.” Carry the word “ishmael” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Jeremiah 41:3: “Ishmael also killed all the Jews who were with him, with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Jeremiah 41? Then try this: Read “Ishmael also killed all the Jews who were with him, with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were…” 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 Jeremiah 41. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Jeremiah 41:3. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Jeremiah 41 and write Jeremiah 41:3 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Jeremiah 41:3
“Ishmael also killed all the Jews who were with him, with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Jeremiah 41. Help us remember Jeremiah 41:3 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.