Week 83 · about 45 minutes
Genesis 34
Genesis 34 · Memory verse Genesis 34:5
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Genesis 34), the matching word search and answer key (Genesis 34 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a small lamp
Hold a small lamp. Read Genesis 34 in about four minutes, stopping at Genesis 34:5: “Now Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah, his daughter; and his sons were with his livestock in the field. Jacob held his peace until they came.” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Genesis 34?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Genesis 34 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “Dinah, the daughter of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.” 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 will we give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people.” Genesis 34 opens with these words: “Dinah, the daughter of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.” The line to keep is Genesis 34:5: “Now Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah, his daughter; and his sons were with his livestock in the field. Jacob held his peace until they came.” Carry the word “jacob” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Genesis 34:5: “Now Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah, his daughter; and his sons were with his livestock in the field. Jacob held his peace until they came.” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Genesis 34? Then try this: Read “Now Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah, his daughter; and his sons were with his livestock in the field.…” 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 Genesis 34. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Genesis 34:5. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Genesis 34 and write Genesis 34:5 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Genesis 34:5
“Now Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah, his daughter; and his sons were with his livestock in the field. Jacob held his peace until they came.”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Genesis 34. Help us remember Genesis 34:5 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.