Week 99 · about 45 minutes
Exodus 1
Exodus 1 · Memory verse Exodus 1:17
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Exodus 1), the matching word search and answer key (Exodus 1 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a key
Hold a key. Read Exodus 1 in about four minutes, stopping at Exodus 1:17: “But the midwives feared God, and didn’t do what the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the baby boys alive.” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Exodus 1?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Exodus 1 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, who came into Egypt (every man and his household came with Jacob):” 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, “But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out. They were grieved because of the children of Israel.” Exodus 1 opens with these words: “Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, who came into Egypt (every man and his household came with Jacob):” The line to keep is Exodus 1:17: “But the midwives feared God, and didn’t do what the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the baby boys alive.” Carry the word “midwives” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Exodus 1:17: “But the midwives feared God, and didn’t do what the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the baby boys alive.” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Exodus 1? Then try this: Read “But the midwives feared God, and didn’t do what the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the baby boys…” 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 Exodus 1. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Exodus 1:17. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Exodus 1 and write Exodus 1:17 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Exodus 1:17
“But the midwives feared God, and didn’t do what the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the baby boys alive.”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Exodus 1. Help us remember Exodus 1:17 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.