Bible trivia: 50 questions and answers for kids and adults
A Bible quiz for the whole family: fifty questions, from easy ones for little children to hard ones for teens and grown-ups. Each answer stays hidden until you tap it, and every question gives its Bible reference, so you can look it up together and read the whole story.
How to play as a family
- One person reads the question and the options aloud, and everyone else answers before the answer is opened.
- Little ones can start with “For little ones”; the hard questions are for teens and grown-ups.
- When someone gets it right, find the verse in your family Bible and read it together.
- Five questions at dinner are plenty. Whoever gets the most right picks the bedtime prayer.
The Old Testament
From Noah and Jacob to Moses, David and Daniel.
After the flood, Noah sent a bird out of the ark, and it came back with an olive leaf in its beak. Which bird was it?
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Answer: b) A dove
From that green leaf, Noah knew the waters were going down.
In the Bible: Genesis 8:11
Jacob dreamed of a ladder that reached from the earth up to heaven. What did he see going up and down it?
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Answer: a) Angels of God
In the Bible: Genesis 28:12
God gave Jacob a new name, which became the name of his whole people. What was it?
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Answer: Israel
Jacob’s twelve sons became the twelve tribes of Israel.
In the Bible: Genesis 35:10
What gift did Jacob give his son Joseph that made his brothers jealous?
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Answer: a) A special coat
Some Bibles call it a coat of many colors, others a long tunic with sleeves. It showed that Jacob loved Joseph more than the others.
In the Bible: Genesis 37:3-4
Baby Moses was hidden in a basket among the reeds of the river. Who found him?
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Answer: a) Pharaoh’s daughter
His big sister watched from a distance to see what would happen to him.
In the Bible: Exodus 2:5-6
In the desert, God fed his people every morning with bread from heaven. What did they call it?
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Answer: a) Manna
The first time they saw it they asked one another “What is it?” (verse 15), and the name echoes that question.
In the Bible: Exodus 16:31
Counting the Ten Commandments the way the Catholic Church does, which is the fourth?
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Answer: b) Honor your father and your mother
Catholics number them as the Catechism does, following Saint Augustine: the first three are about loving God, the other seven about loving our neighbor.
In the Bible: Exodus 20:12
What happened to the walls of Jericho when the trumpets sounded and the people gave a great shout?
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Answer: a) They fell down
In the Bible: Joshua 6:20
How many smooth stones did David pick from the stream before he went out to face Goliath?
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Answer: b) Five
He needed only one: with his sling he hit Goliath on the forehead (verse 49).
In the Bible: 1 Samuel 17:40
God told young King Solomon to ask for whatever he wanted. What did he ask for?
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Answer: c) Wisdom to govern his people well
God was pleased, and gave him riches and glory too, which he had not asked for.
In the Bible: 1 Kings 3:9
Three young men were thrown into a blazing furnace for refusing to worship a golden statue. In a Catholic Bible, what do they do in the middle of the fire?
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Answer: a) They sing a hymn together, praising God
Their song (Daniel 3:52-90) is in Catholic Bibles, and the Church still prays part of it on Sunday mornings in the Liturgy of the Hours.
In the Bible: Daniel 3:51
The life of Jesus
From Bethlehem to Easter morning.
In which town was Jesus born?
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Answer: b) Bethlehem
Bethlehem was King David’s town. Jesus grew up afterwards in Nazareth.
In the Bible: Matthew 2:1
How old was Jesus when Mary and Joseph lost him and found him in the Temple three days later?
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Answer: Twelve
He was sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.
In the Bible: Luke 2:42-46
How many days did Jesus fast in the desert?
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Answer: c) Forty
That is why Lent lasts forty days: the Church joins Jesus in the desert.
In the Bible: Matthew 4:2
In the Gospel of Matthew, where was Jesus when he taught the Beatitudes?
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Answer: a) On a mountain
That is why this teaching is called the Sermon on the Mount. It begins “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”
In the Bible: Matthew 5:1
When Jesus fed about five thousand men, what food did a boy in the crowd have?
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Answer: a) Five loaves and two fish
When everyone had eaten, the leftovers filled twelve baskets.
In the Bible: John 6:9-10
In Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan, who walked past the wounded man without helping?
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Answer: a) A priest and a Levite
In the Bible: Luke 10:31-32
In the story of the prodigal son, what did the father do when he saw his son coming home from far away?
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Answer: b) He ran to hug him and kissed him
In the Bible: Luke 15:20
Jesus called his friend out of the tomb after four days, and he came out alive. What was his name?
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Answer: a) Lazarus
In the Bible: John 11:43-44
What animal did Jesus ride into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday?
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Answer: c) A young donkey
In the Bible: John 12:14
At the Last Supper, which apostle at first did not want Jesus to wash his feet?
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Answer: a) Peter
Jesus washed all their feet to teach them to serve one another.
In the Bible: John 13:6-8
On which day of the week did the women find Jesus’ tomb empty?
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Answer: a) The first day of the week, Sunday
That is why Christians gather for Mass on Sunday, the Lord’s day.
In the Bible: Luke 24:1-3
Mary and the saints in the Bible
Mary, Joseph, John the Baptist, the apostles and an archangel.
Which angel told Mary she would be the mother of Jesus?
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John the Baptist’s father could not speak until he wrote his baby’s name on a tablet. What was the father’s name?
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Answer: Zechariah
His wife was Elizabeth, a relative of the Virgin Mary.
In the Bible: Luke 1:63-64
An angel told Joseph in a dream to flee with Mary and the child to escape King Herod. Where did they go?
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At the wedding at Cana, when the wine ran out, what did Mary tell the servants?
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Answer: a) To do whatever Jesus told them
Then Jesus turned the water into wine, the first of his miracles.
In the Bible: John 2:5
What did John the Baptist eat in the desert?
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Answer: a) Locusts and wild honey
He wore clothes of camel’s hair and a leather belt.
In the Bible: Matthew 3:4
To which apostle did Jesus promise the keys of the kingdom of heaven?
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Answer: a) Peter
He also told him that on this rock he would build his Church. The Pope is Peter’s successor.
In the Bible: Matthew 16:18-19
Which apostle brought his brother Simon Peter to meet Jesus?
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Answer: a) Andrew
Jesus looked at Simon and gave him a new name, Cephas, which means Peter, rock.
In the Bible: John 1:40-42
On the way to Calvary, who was made to help Jesus carry his cross?
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Answer: a) Simon of Cyrene
We remember him in the fifth Station of the Cross.
In the Bible: Luke 23:26
Which apostle said he would not believe Jesus had risen until he touched his wounds?
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Answer: a) Thomas
Eight days later Jesus came back, and Thomas said, “My Lord, and my God.”
In the Bible: John 20:24-25
In the book of Tobit, which angel traveled with young Tobias without telling him who he was?
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Answer: c) Raphael
Tobit is one of the Old Testament books in the Catholic Bible. At the end of the journey, the angel tells them his name.
In the Bible: Tobit 12:15
The early Church
From the Acts of the Apostles: the Church in its first years.
For how many days did the risen Jesus appear to the apostles before he went up to heaven?
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Answer: b) Forty
In the Bible: Acts 1:3
After Judas, the apostles cast lots to choose a man to take his place among the Twelve. What was his name?
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Answer: Matthias
In the Bible: Acts 1:26
On the day of Pentecost, which apostle stood up and spoke to the crowd about Jesus?
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Answer: a) Peter
They had just received the Holy Spirit, and Peter spoke with the other eleven beside him.
In the Bible: Acts 2:14
On that same day of Pentecost, about how many people were baptized?
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Answer: b) About three thousand
In the Bible: Acts 2:41
The first Christians held fast to the apostles’ teaching, to their life together, to prayer and to… what else?
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Answer: a) The breaking of the bread
The breaking of the bread is one of the oldest names for the Mass.
In the Bible: Acts 2:42
Who was the first Christian martyr, who prayed for the people stoning him?
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Answer: a) Stephen
A young man named Saul was watching. He later became Saint Paul.
In the Bible: Acts 7:59-60
Saul was left blind on the road to Damascus. Who laid hands on him so he could see again, before he was baptized?
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Answer: a) Ananias
In the Bible: Acts 9:17-18
In which city were Jesus’ disciples first called Christians?
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Answer: Antioch
In the Bible: Acts 11:26
King Herod put Peter in prison, bound with two chains. Who came in the night to set him free?
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Answer: a) An angel of the Lord
In the Bible: Acts 12:6-7
Saint Paul was shipwrecked while he was being taken to Rome as a prisoner. On which island did he land?
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Answer: Malta
Its Latin name was Melita, which is what some older Bibles call it.
In the Bible: Acts 28:1
For little ones
Easy questions for the youngest in the family, from the stories they love most.
Who made the heavens and the earth?
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Answer: a) God
In the Bible: Genesis 1:1
God made the world in six days. What did he do on the seventh day?
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Answer: a) He rested
In the Bible: Genesis 2:2
After the flood, what did God put in the clouds as the sign of his promise?
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Who spent three days and three nights inside a great fish?
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In Jesus’ story of the lost sheep, how many sheep did the shepherd have?
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Answer: b) A hundred
He left the other ninety-nine to look for the lost one, and when he found it he carried it home on his shoulders, full of joy.
In the Bible: Luke 15:4-5
Zacchaeus was too short to see Jesus over the crowd. What did he climb?
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Answer: a) A tree, a sycamore
In the Bible: Luke 19:3-4
A storm was shaking the disciples’ boat. What did Jesus do?
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Answer: a) He told the wind and the sea to be still, and they were
In the Bible: Mark 4:39
When people brought little children to Jesus, what did he do?
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Answer: b) He hugged them and blessed them
The disciples tried to stop them, but Jesus told them to let the children come to him.
In the Bible: Mark 10:16
References follow the numbering and book names of today’s Catholic Bibles, which have 73 books.