Download expanded Chapter 10 student textbook (PDF, updated edition). The earlier shorter textbook edition remains available below.
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Grade 3 Scripture Study, Chapter 10: Promises, Fairness, and Firstfruits
Read lessons | Daily exercises | Teacher answers | Grade 3 index
Read each day’s teaching and worked example before completing the corresponding exercises. This chapter is one part of a developing curriculum, not the complete school year.
Day 1: Keeping a Promise: Deuteronomy 23:21–23
Learn: Read the selected verses with an adult. The passage concerns vows made to Yahuah and cautions against delaying fulfillment. The text distinguishes making a vow from the responsibility after making one. Avoid adding a claim that every casual statement is legally a vow.
Worked example: Observation: the passage addresses a vow to Yahuah. Application: speak carefully before promising something.
Day 2: Care for the Worker: Deuteronomy 24:14–15
Learn: With an adult, read the law about a hired worker and pay. Identify the person named, the conduct prohibited, and the timing of payment. The passage describes an ancient Israelite legal context; discuss fair treatment without claiming modern wage laws are identical.
Worked example: Observation: the law forbids oppressing a poor and needy hired servant and addresses timely wages.
Day 3: Justice and Measures: Deuteronomy 25:13–16
Learn: Read the instructions about differing weights and measures. Explain that inaccurate weights can create dishonest trades. This is an ancient commercial setting, and the lesson should distinguish what the passage commands from a modern illustration.
Worked example: A merchant secretly uses two different weights to make the same transaction unfair. The passage warns against dishonest measures.
Day 4: Firstfruits: Deuteronomy 26:1–11
Learn: Read with an adult. The passage describes bringing the firstfruits of the land in a particular covenant and agricultural setting. Notice the basket, the priest, and the recounted history. Do not replace the passage’s specific instructions with unrelated modern rituals.
Worked example: Observation: the speaker recounts what Yahuah did for Israel while bringing firstfruits.
Day 5: Independent Scripture Reading Check
Learn: Read Deuteronomy 23:21–23, 24:14–15, 25:13–16, and 26:1–11. Use the family-selected translation and identify verse support. Adults can read directions but should not supply answers.
Worked example: Selected passages do not cover every law in Deuteronomy 23–26; adult context is essential.
Expanded teaching and guided reasoning
Use these extended explanations alongside the five-day lessons and downloadable chapter PDF. The expanded teaching is now available in the updated PDF linked at the top of this page. Parent or teacher guidance remains important.
Extended Day 1: Read vows in context
Read Deuteronomy 23:21-23 aloud and identify the subject before applying it. The passage discusses vows to Yahuah, including the responsibility to perform what the mouth has spoken. A learner should not confuse the text with an invented requirement to make vows.
Write two columns: ‘What the verse says’ and ‘What we might learn.’ Keep the first column close to the wording of the family’s chosen translation. Put current-day examples only in the second column.
Try it: Locate the verse that addresses delaying a vow. Explain why a quotation and a modern example should not be presented as the same thing.
Extended Day 2: Read the command about wages
Read Deuteronomy 24:14-15 with an adult. The text addresses treatment of a poor and needy hired servant and the timing of wages. The passage is situated within Israel’s covenant law, not a modern labor statute.
Identify who is commanded, whom the command protects, and which action is forbidden. Then compare the underlying concern for fairness with a present-day example while keeping them clearly distinct.
Try it: State the action prohibited in the text. Cite the relevant verse. Then write one sentence marked ‘application’ rather than claiming it is a direct quotation.
Extended Day 3: Understand weights and measures
Read Deuteronomy 25:13-16 and pay attention to different weights and measures. The concern is dishonest measurement in trade. Before discussing modern scales, identify the objects and conduct actually named in the passage.
Use a simple analogy: if a seller’s scale understates the quantity given, the exchange can become unfair. This example helps understanding, but the child must still explain the original words of the passage.
Try it: Why would two different weights for the same purpose be misleading? Support the answer from the passage rather than personal opinion alone.
Extended Day 4: Learn the firstfruits passage
Read Deuteronomy 26:1-11 in its agricultural and covenant setting. Observe the produce brought, the role of the priest, and the account of Israel’s history. The speech of remembrance is an important part of the passage.
Create a sequence chart: entering the land, bringing produce, speaking before the priest, recounting history, and rejoicing. Read carefully to avoid reordering details or adding ceremonies the verses do not mention.
Try it: Identify the person named in verse 4 and quote or paraphrase one historical detail from verses 5-9. Check the whole passage with an adult.
Extended Day 5: Independent text-based review
Revisit the four selected passages. Answer each workbook question with a reference. For a short answer, name a phrase or verse that directly supports the conclusion. An adult can help locate a passage without supplying the answer.
These selections are not an exhaustive treatment of Deuteronomy 23-26. Some surrounding passages contain difficult subjects that require age-appropriate adult guidance.
Self-check prompt: Separate one direct textual observation from one present-day application for each passage.
Curriculum status: Supplemental instructional development, not a completed full-year textbook or verified standards-mastery certification.