Story of Job Sunday School Lesson for Kids

This free story of Job Sunday school lesson teaches kids that we can trust God in hard times. Job lost almost everything, but he worshipped God and said, "blessed be the name of the LORD" (Job 1:21), and in the end God gave him twice as much as he had before (42:10). It comes in four age levels, each a separate printable teacher lesson, plus one take-home sheet for families. Pick the one that fits your class. Everything is in the order you teach it.

Choose your age level

• Preschool (ages 3–5), 20–30 minutes, 3 pages: a happy-face, sad-face game, a short story with hand motions and repeat-after-me lines, three simple questions, a shortened memory verse ("blessed be the name of the LORD") with motions, and a twice-as-many counting game with toy animals.
• Kindergarten to 2nd grade, 45 minutes, 4 pages: the Double It game, the story in simple words, five recall questions with answers, the Take Away a Strip memory verse game, and a good-days-and-hard-days praise game.
• 3rd to 5th grade, 45–60 minutes, 4 pages: a thumbs-up, thumbs-down opening game, kids look up verses in their own Bibles during a fuller story (what Satan said, the sad day, Job's worship, the sores and ashes, the three friends, twice as much), five thinking questions and three recall questions, and a Bible look-up race.
• Preteens (ages 11–12), 45–60 minutes, 4 pages: students read Job 1:6–12, 1:20–22 and 42:10–13 out loud themselves, then discuss loving God "for nought," grieving and worshipping, and praying for people who hurt us. Six discussion questions, a journal page, and two memory verses (Job 1:21 and James 5:11).

Lesson at a glance

• Bible passage: Job 1–2 and Job 42
• Main point: We can trust God in hard times. Job lost almost everything, but he still worshipped God, and God blessed him in the end.
• Memory verse: Job 1:21 (KJV), with James 5:11 added for preteens
• Ages: preschool to preteen, in four versions

Lesson outline (the same in every version)

1. Opening game: a short game about doubling, happy and sad days, good and hard things, or loving someone "for nothing."
2. Bible story: Job, who feared God; what Satan said (not in the preschool lesson); the sad day when Job lost almost everything; Job's worship and his words in Job 1:21; the sores and the ashes; the three friends who sat with him seven days; Job praying for his friends; and the LORD giving him twice as much as before. Every fact has its verse reference so you can check it.
3. Questions to ask: with answers, at the right level for each age.
4. Memory verse: a game or motions to help kids learn Job 1:21.
5. What this means for us: God loves us on happy and sad days, the gospel (Acts 2:38), and a challenge for the week.
6. Activity: the story of Job word search, crossword, maze, worksheet, the story of Job craft, a praise game, a Bible look-up race or a journal page, depending on the age.
7. Prayer.

Tips for teaching the story of Job

• Read Job 1:21 straight from your Bible, right after the sad news: "the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."
• Keep the Bible's numbers: 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen and 500 she asses at the beginning (1:3), and exactly twice as many at the end (42:12). Job had seven sons and three daughters (1:2; 42:13).
• Satan's part (1:6–12; 2:1–7) and the death of Job's children (1:18–19) are left out of the preschool lesson, told very gently for kindergarten to 2nd grade and gently for older kids. The Bible doesn't give every reason why, and the lesson doesn't add any. Every level has a short teacher note in case a child asks.
• Short on time? Do the story, three questions and the memory verse. That is a solid 25-minute lesson.