Bible Character Coloring Pages — Free Printable

Bible characters coloring pages, organized by the people who shape Scripture

Every Bible story has people at the center of it — and for kids learning the faith, identifying with a specific biblical character is often the bridge from "this is a story" to "this is real." A child who's colored a page of David standing before Goliath will remember the story years later. A teenager who's worked through a page set of the apostles will recognize each name when their pastor preaches Acts.

This is the central library of Bible character coloring pages, organized by individual figures from both Old and New Testaments. Every character has multiple page bundles — typically a 6-scene bundle covering the major moments of their life, plus audience variants for preschool (ages 3–5), kids (5–10), and adults (Bible journaling with mandala-style detail).

Who's covered (and what the bundles include)

We currently publish dedicated character page sets for the 30 most-taught biblical figures in Sunday school and Catholic catechesis curricula. The catalog is organized in two halves:

New Testament characters

The Gospel-era figures Sunday school teachers cover most often:

• Jesus Christ — birth (Luke 2), baptism (Matthew 3), Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7), miracles, Last Supper, Crucifixion, Resurrection, Ascension. Multiple audience variants because Jesus appears in nearly every Sunday school lesson.
• Mary, Mother of Jesus — Annunciation (Luke 1), Visitation, Nativity, Presentation, Wedding at Cana, Foot of the Cross, Pentecost. Catholic content includes Marian feast days; Protestant variants focus on biblical scenes.
• Peter the Apostle — called by Jesus, walking on water, the keys of the kingdom, the denial, the Pentecost preaching, the prison rescue (Acts 12). Patron saint of fishermen.
• Paul the Apostle — Damascus Road conversion, three missionary journeys, shipwreck, Roman imprisonment. The apostle to the Gentiles.
• Mary Magdalene — at the foot of the Cross, at the empty tomb on Easter morning, the first witness to the Resurrection. Apostle to the Apostles.
• John the Baptist — wilderness ministry, baptism of Jesus, "I am not worthy," martyrdom.

Old Testament characters

The patriarchs, prophets, judges, and kings:

• Moses — baby in the basket, the burning bush, the ten plagues, the Red Sea crossing, the Ten Commandments, forty years in the wilderness.
• David — anointed by Samuel, defeats Goliath, plays the harp before Saul, becomes king, the Psalms, the prophet Nathan's rebuke.
• Abraham — God's call, the covenant, the birth of Isaac, the binding of Isaac (Akedah), hospitality to the three visitors.
• Joseph (coat of many colors) — the dreams, sold into Egypt, Potiphar's wife, interpretation of Pharaoh's dreams, reconciliation with brothers.

For each character, the bundle structure is consistent: 6 scenes spanning the character's life, with a one-sentence teaching point per scene and a Bible verse citation. The 6-scene format fits a 45-minute Sunday school class or a week of homeschool unit study.

How Sunday school teachers use character pages

There are three common workflows depending on your curriculum approach:

1. Character-of-the-quarter (most common for elementary Sunday school)

Your Sunday school director picks one biblical figure to focus on for 6–8 weeks. Each Sunday, you cover one scene from the character's life with the matching coloring page. By the end of the quarter, students have a 6-page booklet they've colored that retells the character's full story.

This pairs well with kids who have just learned to read. The simple act of seeing "David" or "Moses" on a coloring page weekly anchors the name in long-term memory.

2. Character contrast (good for middle-school age 10–14)

For older kids, pair characters in contrast: David and Goliath as faith versus pride, Joseph and his brothers as forgiveness versus jealousy, Mary and Martha as devotion versus distraction (Luke 10), Peter and Judas as repentance versus despair. Use the coloring pages as visual anchors while discussing the contrast.

3. The "people of Acts" sequence (good for confirmation prep)

For confirmation classes, work through the early church chronologically using character pages: Peter, then Paul, then Stephen the first martyr, then Philip, then Barnabas. The coloring activity slows kids down enough to absorb the dense narrative of Acts.

How Catholic catechists use character pages

For Catholic religious-ed and CCD programs, character pages complement the saint coloring pages from our Catholic section. The biblical characters anchor the faith in scripture; the saints anchor it in church history.

Common Catholic uses:

• Marian devotion classes: the Mary, Mother of Jesus page set covers the seven biblical scenes of Mary's life that match the seven sorrows and joys of Mary in Catholic devotion.
• Confirmation prep: Acts of the Apostles character pages support the sacrament of Confirmation by depicting the apostles' role in the early Church.
• Family devotion at home: parents use character pages alongside the daily Bible reading from the Mass — for the Easter season, the appearances of Jesus to Mary Magdalene, the disciples on the road to Emmaus, doubting Thomas, the Ascension.

Pages organized by Bible book

If you're teaching through a specific Bible book and want all the relevant character pages, here's a quick map:

• Genesis: Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph (coat of many colors)
• Exodus: Moses, Aaron, Miriam
• Joshua, Judges: Joshua, Gideon, Samson, Deborah, Ruth
• 1–2 Samuel, 1–2 Kings: Samuel, Saul, David, Solomon, Elijah, Elisha
• Daniel, Esther: Daniel, Esther, Mordechai
• Minor Prophets: Jonah, Hosea, Amos, Micah
• Gospels: Jesus, Mary, John the Baptist, the Twelve Apostles
• Acts: Peter, Paul, Stephen, Philip, Barnabas, Timothy

For each Bible book, browsing by character lets you build a curriculum around the people God uses rather than just the events that happened to them.

Why the 6-scene narrative format matters

A common question from teachers: why six scenes per character, not three or ten?

After several years of testing different bundle sizes with our own Sunday school class, six scenes turned out to be the right number for two reasons:

1. Six fits a 45-minute class. Each scene gets 5–7 minutes — enough to read the corresponding Bible passage, ask one comprehension question, and color the page. Three scenes leave time empty; ten leave kids rushed.
2. Six covers the narrative arc. Most biblical biographies have a recognizable structure: call, formation, peak, conflict, resolution, legacy. Six scenes lets us hit each phase. For David: the anointing (call), playing harp before Saul (formation), defeating Goliath (peak), Bathsheba's affair (conflict), Nathan's rebuke and repentance (resolution), the Psalms (legacy).

When a character's life doesn't fit cleanly into six scenes — for example, Jesus needs many more — we publish multiple 6-scene bundles by theme (e.g. "Jesus' birth," "Jesus' miracles," "Jesus' parables," "Jesus' Passion," "Resurrection appearances").

Editorial standards specific to character pages

For character pages, our editorial review adds three character-specific criteria beyond the standard four:

1. Historical-cultural accuracy. Characters wear clothing appropriate to their era and region. We avoid anachronisms — no Jesus in 1950s American clothing, no Mary in a Renaissance Italian dress.
2. Iconographic consistency. When a character has established iconographic attributes — David with sling, John the Baptist with camel-hair tunic, Peter with keys — we use them so children can identify the character at a glance.
3. Ethnic accuracy. Biblical characters are depicted with Middle Eastern features and skin tones, not as Northern European. This is non-negotiable for biblical accuracy and important for children's identification with the global Church.

Audience variants explained

For each character, we publish multiple variants targeting different age groups:

• Preschool (3–5) — simple thick-line art, 1–2 main elements per page, avoids any violent imagery (no martyrdom scenes, no battle imagery)
• Kids (5–10) — medium narrative detail, 2–4 elements per scene, includes scenes with conflict but never graphic
• Sunday School — same as Kids but with the Bible verse printed on the page for memorization
• VBS — combined with activity elements (find the hidden item, simple maze, dot-to-dot)
• Adults — intricate line art suitable for Bible journaling, mandala-style decoration around the central figure

When you visit a character page like /bible-characters/david/, you'll see all available audience variants as separate leaf pages.

What's coming next

The character catalog is growing. Publishing priorities for the next 90 days:

• Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, the twelve minor prophets)
• Women of the Bible (Eve, Sarah, Hannah, Miriam, Deborah, Ruth, Esther, Mary of Bethany, Lydia)
• The twelve apostles (currently published: Peter, Paul, John, James — adding Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the Less, Thaddeus, Simon the Zealot)
• Old Testament kings (Solomon, Hezekiah, Josiah, Asa)
• The judges (Othniel, Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah, Samson)

If there's a character you'd like us to cover, email us. We prioritize the requests we hear most.

— Sarah Mitchell, Christian Education Editor