Old Testament Coloring Pages — Free Printable Bible Pages

Old Testament coloring pages — Genesis through Malachi, the full Hebrew Bible

The Old Testament is 39 books, written across roughly a thousand years, covering creation, covenant, exodus, conquest, kingdom, exile, and the prophetic anticipation of the Messiah. For Sunday school teachers, it's the harder half — kids gravitate to the gospel stories, but the Old Testament is where the foundational characters (Abraham, Moses, David), the central narratives (Creation, the Exodus, the Babylonian exile), and the long-arc theology of God's covenant relationship with Israel actually take shape.

This Old Testament section holds every page on the site that depicts a story or character from Genesis through Malachi. Organized by Bible book in canonical order, age-tagged for preschool through adult, and printable as bundles that pair with the standard Sunday school curriculum sequence used by Gospel Light, Cokesbury, Concordia, and Catholic CCD.

The five sections of the Old Testament

The 39 Old Testament books group into five sections, each with a distinctive character and a distinct role in the canonical narrative:

1. The Pentateuch (Torah) — Genesis through Deuteronomy

Five books, traditionally attributed to Moses. The foundation: Creation, the Fall, the Flood, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, the Exodus, the giving of the Law at Sinai, the forty years in the wilderness. This is where Sunday school spends most of its Old Testament time.

Pages in this section:

• Creation — six days of creation, one page per day
• Adam and Eve — the garden, the serpent, the expulsion
• Noah's Ark — the most-downloaded Old Testament page set, covering the full Genesis 6–9 narrative
• Abraham — the call, the covenant, Isaac's near-sacrifice
• Jacob and Esau — the birthright, the ladder dream, the wrestling with God
• Joseph — the coat, the pit, Egypt, the reunion
• Moses — the basket, the burning bush, the plagues, the Red Sea, the Ten Commandments
• The Tabernacle — the portable temple, the ark of the covenant

2. The Historical Books — Joshua through Esther

Twelve books covering the conquest of Canaan, the period of the judges, the united monarchy, the divided kingdom, the exile, and the return.

Pages in this section:

• Joshua — the walls of Jericho, the conquest
• The Judges — Deborah, Gideon, Samson
• Ruth — the harvest, the kinsman-redeemer
• David and Goliath — the courage story, classic Sunday school favorite
• King David — the harp, the psalms, Jerusalem
• King Solomon — the temple, the wisdom narratives
• Elijah and Elisha — the prophets in the divided kingdom
• The Exile — the fall of Jerusalem, the captivity
• Esther — for such a time as this, the Persian court

3. Wisdom and Poetry — Job through Song of Songs

Five books of poetic and reflective literature. Job (the suffering and the divine speech), Psalms (the prayer book of Israel and the Church), Proverbs (the wisdom of Solomon), Ecclesiastes (the meditation on meaning), and Song of Songs (the love poetry).

Pages in this section:

• Job and his friends — suffering and faith
• Psalms illustrations — particularly Psalm 23, Psalm 1, Psalm 100, Psalm 139
• Proverbs visual collections — the two paths, the wise builder
• Solomon and the queen of Sheba — visiting kings

4. The Major Prophets — Isaiah through Daniel

Five books of substantial length covering the prophetic ministry to Israel and Judah before, during, and after the exile.

Pages in this section:

• Isaiah — the Suffering Servant, Isaiah 53 illustrations, the messianic prophecies
• Jeremiah — the weeping prophet, the call (Jeremiah 1), the new covenant (Jeremiah 31)
• Ezekiel — the wheels, the dry bones (Ezekiel 37), the temple vision
• Daniel in the lions' den — the night of prayer, the angel sealing the lions' mouths

5. The Minor Prophets — Hosea through Malachi

Twelve shorter books, often called the Twelve. Each addressed to a specific historical moment in Israel's or Judah's story.

Pages in this section:

• Jonah — the storm, the great fish, Nineveh — most-illustrated minor prophet
• Amos — the shepherd-prophet, the plumb line
• Micah — the Messianic prophecy of Bethlehem (Micah 5:2)
• Habakkuk — the watchtower, the prayer
• Malachi — the messenger, the last prophet before John the Baptist

Sunday school workflow for Old Testament teaching

The traditional Sunday school Old Testament sweep is one school year, September to May, roughly 36 Sundays. A workable rhythm:

September — Creation and the Patriarchs (4 weeks)

Week 1: Creation. Week 2: Adam, Eve, and the Fall. Week 3: Noah and the Ark. Week 4: Abraham's call.

October — Patriarchs and Exodus (4 weeks)

Week 5: Isaac and Rebekah. Week 6: Jacob's ladder and wrestling. Week 7: Joseph in Egypt. Week 8: Moses' birth and call (the burning bush).

November — Exodus and Wilderness (4 weeks)

Week 9: The plagues. Week 10: The Passover and Red Sea. Week 11: The Ten Commandments. Week 12: The Tabernacle.

December — Christmas rotation

Old Testament suspended for the Christmas curriculum (we cover that in our Christmas section).

January — Conquest and Judges (4 weeks)

Week 13: Joshua and Jericho. Week 14: Deborah and Gideon. Week 15: Samson. Week 16: Ruth.

February — United Monarchy (4 weeks)

Week 17: Samuel anoints David. Week 18: David and Goliath. Week 19: King David in Jerusalem. Week 20: King Solomon's temple.

March — Divided Kingdom and Exile (4 weeks)

Week 21: Elijah on Mount Carmel. Week 22: Elisha and the widow. Week 23: The fall of Jerusalem. Week 24: Daniel in Babylon.

April — Easter rotation

Old Testament suspended for the Easter curriculum (we cover that in our Easter section).

May — Prophets and Return (4 weeks)

Week 25: Daniel in the lions' den. Week 26: Jonah and the great fish. Week 27: Esther in the Persian court. Week 28: Nehemiah rebuilds the wall.

This 28-Sunday Old Testament sweep covers the major narrative arc without overwhelming kids with sub-plots. Teachers wanting more depth can extend any of these into a 2-week mini-series with our additional pages.

What makes Old Testament coloring different from New Testament

Three observations from running Old Testament Sunday school for seven years:

1. The settings are less familiar to modern kids

A first-century Galilean fishing village is unfamiliar enough; the camps of Israel in the wilderness or the Babylonian exile are even more so. Our Old Testament pages include simple background visual cues — the tabernacle's structure, ancient Near Eastern clothing styles, the Egyptian or Babylonian setting — that help kids orient themselves in the world of the story.

2. The character names are harder

"Mary" and "Peter" are familiar to kids who don't grow up in church. "Habakkuk" and "Ahasuerus" are not. Our Old Testament pages include phonetic pronunciation aids in the teacher notes ("Ha-BAK-uk") so a parent volunteer doesn't have to guess.

3. The narrative arc spans a thousand years

The New Testament happens in about 70 years (Jesus' birth to John's death on Patmos). The Old Testament spans roughly Creation through 400 BC — over a millennium of recorded history. Kids need help with timeline orientation. Our Old Testament bundle includes a simple visual timeline page that shows where each story sits in the larger arc.

Editorial standards for Old Testament content

Standard editorial policy applies. Three Old Testament-specific notes:

Violence depiction

Old Testament narratives include substantial violence (the conquest of Canaan, David and Goliath, the prophets' confrontations with idolatry). Our age-tier policy:

• Preschool: The fight scenes are not depicted. David is shown with his sling before the throw. The conquest of Jericho is shown with the walls falling but no soldiers in combat.
• Kids 5–10: Confrontation is depicted but resolution-focused. Goliath is shown falling, David is shown holding the sling — no blood imagery.
• Adults: Full narrative detail available, including the painful realities of the conquest period.

Genealogies and lineage

We don't publish genealogy coloring pages (1 Chronicles 1–9, the Matthew 1 list) as standalone pages — they're not visually compelling. But we include short visual family trees where relevant (Abraham's family, David's lineage, Joseph's brothers).

The wisdom books

Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job get visual treatment as themed concept pages (the "two paths" of Proverbs, the "all is vanity" of Ecclesiastes, the "where were you" speech of Job 38) rather than character pages. The line art uses symbolic imagery rather than character-driven scenes.

Multilingual Old Testament content

The Old Testament narratives are central to multiple traditions:

• Spanish Old Testament — Reina-Valera 1960 translations
• Portuguese Old Testament — Almeida Revista translations
• Polish Old Testament — Biblia Tysiąclecia (Catholic) translations
• Hebrew Bible context — for Jewish-Christian dialogue contexts, we note where the Christian Old Testament differs in ordering from the Hebrew Tanakh

What's coming next for Old Testament content

Publishing priorities over the next 90 days:

• All 12 minor prophets — currently only Jonah has full pages; the other 11 are in development
• Expanded Psalms set — 150 Psalms total, 30 currently published
• Major prophets deep-dive — Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel chapter-by-chapter for adult Bible study
• The wisdom literature illustrated — Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs adult contemplative pages
• Catholic Deuterocanonical bundle — Tobit, Judith, 1-2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch

If your Sunday school is starting an Old Testament series and wants a specific book or character covered, email us.

— Sarah Mitchell, Christian Education Editor