How well do you know the Bible? Take this 25-question quiz and find your level

This "how well do you know the Bible" quiz is a 25-question placement test. The questions climb through five levels, from stories most people have heard (Noah, David and Goliath) to details only careful readers remember (Uzziah's leprosy, Timothy's mother). Answer all 25, check your score against the answer key, and you'll get a level from 1 (Beginner) to 5 (Expert) with a suggestion for what to read next.

Most Bible knowledge tests online give you a score and stop there. A score on its own doesn't help much. What helps is knowing where your knowledge runs out, because that tells you which part of the Bible to read next.

No one is grading you, so don't look anything up. A wrong answer here is useful information, not a failure.

How the test works

Write the numbers 1 to 25 on a piece of paper or in a note. For each question, write the letter you think is right. Go fast: if you don't know, guess and move on. The whole test takes about five minutes.

Then check your answers against the key further down, count your points, and read your level. The key also shows your score per level, which is the more useful number.

If you'd rather have each answer explained the moment you give it, the app's quizzes work that way: you answer, then see the verse the answer comes from, along a quiz path that starts at your level.

Level 1: Beginner questions

1. Who built an ark to survive the flood? (a) Moses (b) Noah (c) Abraham (d) Jonah
2. In which town was Jesus born? (a) Nazareth (b) Jerusalem (c) Bethlehem (d) Capernaum
3. How many apostles did Jesus choose? (a) Seven (b) Ten (c) Twelve (d) Forty
4. Who killed the giant Goliath? (a) Saul (b) David (c) Samson (d) Jonathan
5. What is the first book of the Bible? (a) Exodus (b) Genesis (c) Matthew (d) Psalms

Level 2: Familiar questions

1. Who was thrown into a burning fiery furnace? (a) Daniel (b) Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego (c) Jeremiah (d) Elijah
2. Which apostle's name opens the most New Testament letters? (a) Peter (b) John (c) Paul (d) James
3. What did Jesus call "the first and great commandment"? (a) Keep the sabbath (b) Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart (c) Honour thy father and mother (d) Thou shalt not kill
4. Which sea did Israel cross on dry ground when leaving Egypt? (a) The Dead Sea (b) The Sea of Galilee (c) The Red sea (d) The Mediterranean
5. Which disciple agreed to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver? (a) Peter (b) Thomas (c) Judas Iscariot (d) Matthew

Level 3: Reader questions

1. Which book tells the story of Pentecost and Paul's missionary journeys? (a) Romans (b) Acts (c) Hebrews (d) Luke
2. Who was the first king of Israel? (a) David (b) Saul (c) Solomon (d) Samuel
3. What was the name of Abraham's son by Hagar? (a) Isaac (b) Esau (c) Ishmael (d) Lot
4. In which book are the Ten Commandments first given? (a) Genesis (b) Exodus (c) Leviticus (d) Joshua
5. By what other name is the apostle Paul called in Acts? (a) Silas (b) Simon (c) Saul (d) Stephen

If you're below 10 at this point, the next ten will feel hard, and that's fine. Keep going.

Level 4: Student questions

1. Which judge made a vow that cost him his only daughter? (a) Gideon (b) Samson (c) Jephthah (d) Ehud
2. Which king saw a hand writing on the wall of his palace? (a) Nebuchadnezzar (b) Belshazzar (c) Darius (d) Cyrus
3. What were the names of Joseph's two sons born in Egypt? (a) Jacob and Esau (b) Manasseh and Ephraim (c) Reuben and Simeon (d) Perez and Zerah
4. Which of these books never uses the words "God" or "Lord" in the KJV? (a) Ruth (b) Esther (c) Jonah (d) Nehemiah
5. To which city's church did Paul write, "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain"? (a) Rome (b) Corinth (c) Philippi (d) Ephesus

Level 5: Expert questions

1. Who was the high priest that year, to whose house Jesus was led after his arrest? (a) Annas (b) Caiaphas (c) Gamaliel (d) Ananias
2. Which prophet did Peter quote at Pentecost: "I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh"? (a) Isaiah (b) Joel (c) Amos (d) Malachi
3. How many psalms are in the book of Psalms? (a) 100 (b) 120 (c) 150 (d) 176
4. What was the name of Timothy's mother? (a) Lois (b) Eunice (c) Lydia (d) Phebe
5. Which king of Judah was struck with leprosy for burning incense in the temple? (a) Hezekiah (b) Uzziah (c) Josiah (d) Ahaz

Answer key

Score one point for each correct answer, and note your score for each level separately.

Level 1 answers

1. Answer: (b) Noah. God told Noah, "Make thee an ark of gopher wood" (Genesis 6:14).
2. Answer: (c) Bethlehem. Joseph went "unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem" (Luke 2:4-7).
3. Answer: (c) Twelve. "Of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles" (Luke 6:13). See the 12 apostles quiz.
4. Answer: (b) David. With a sling and a stone (1 Samuel 17:50). Read David and Goliath.
5. Answer: (b) Genesis. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Genesis 1:1).

Level 2 answers

1. Answer: (b) Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. Daniel was later cast into the lions' den, not the furnace (Daniel 3:20, 6:16). Read the fiery furnace.
2. Answer: (c) Paul. Thirteen letters open with his name, from Romans to Philemon (Romans 1:1, Philemon 1:1).
3. Answer: (b) Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart. "This is the first and great commandment" (Matthew 22:37-38).
4. Answer: (c) The Red sea. "By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land" (Hebrews 11:29; Exodus 15:4). Read crossing the Red Sea.
5. Answer: (c) Judas Iscariot. "They covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver" (Matthew 26:14-16).

Level 3 answers

1. Answer: (b) Acts. Pentecost is in Acts 2, and Paul's first journey begins when the Holy Ghost says, "Separate me Barnabas and Saul" (Acts 2:1, 13:2). Try the Acts quiz.
2. Answer: (b) Saul. Samuel anointed him, and the people shouted, "God save the king" (1 Samuel 10:1, 10:24). See Saul's profile.
3. Answer: (c) Ishmael. "Abram called his son's name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael" (Genesis 16:15).
4. Answer: (b) Exodus. "And God spake all these words" begins the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20; Deuteronomy 5 repeats them (Exodus 20:1-17).
5. Answer: (c) Saul. "Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,)" (Acts 13:9). The Bible doesn't say God changed his name; he simply goes by Paul from this point in Acts.

Level 4 answers

1. Answer: (c) Jephthah. He vowed to offer whatever came out of his house to meet him, and his daughter came out (Judges 11:30-34). Read Jephthah and his vow.
2. Answer: (b) Belshazzar. "In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote" (Daniel 5:1-5). Nebuchadnezzar is a common wrong answer. See the writing on the wall.
3. Answer: (b) Manasseh and Ephraim. Manasseh was the firstborn, Ephraim the second (Genesis 41:51-52).
4. Answer: (b) Esther. Neither word appears in the KJV text of Esther, though God's care runs through the whole story. Song of Songs doesn't use them either, which is why it isn't an option here. See the book of Esther summary.
5. Answer: (c) Philippi. The letter is addressed "to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi" (Philippians 1:1, 1:21).

Level 5 answers

1. Answer: (b) Caiaphas. Jesus was led to Annas first, but Caiaphas was "the high priest that same year" (John 18:13; Matthew 26:57). Annas is the trap.
2. Answer: (b) Joel. "This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel" (Acts 2:16-17; Joel 2:28).
3. Answer: (c) 150. The book ends with Psalm 150 (Psalm 150:6). 176 is the number of verses in Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible.
4. Answer: (b) Eunice. Paul mentions "thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice" (2 Timothy 1:5). Lois is the trap. See Timothy's profile.
5. Answer: (b) Uzziah. "The leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests" (2 Chronicles 26:19-21). Read King Uzziah's pride.

Want to see it in action? Here's a three-question sample from the app's Genesis bank, the kind of quiz you'd get at your level:

Quick quiz: Genesis

How long did the rain of the flood fall on the earth?

7 days40 days150 days120 days

What did the LORD count to Abram as righteousness?

His circumcision at 99The tithe given to MelchizedekHis trust in the LORDHis departure for Canaan

What new name does Jacob receive after his wrestling at the ford of the Jabbok?

IsraelEdomBenjaminAbraham

Continue the quiz

There are many more questions like these in Bible Academy, each with its explanation and verse. Start free, no card needed.

What your score means

Add up your points. Then look at your score per level: the first level where you missed two or more questions is usually where your reading should start.

Level 1: Beginner. Start with the stories that hold the whole Bible together. Our list of the most important Bible stories everyone should know gives you the backbone, and a Bible reading plan for beginners takes you through them at a gentle pace.

Level 2: Familiar. You need reading more than more trivia. Pick one book and read it in a week. Mark has 16 chapters, so two or three a day is enough.

Level 3: Reader. Your gaps are probably in the middle of the Old Testament (Judges, Kings, Chronicles) and in Acts. Our Old Testament quiz questions will show you which books to read next.

Level 4: Student. You know the Bible well. Now go after the books most people skip: the minor prophets, Hebrews, the shorter letters. A book-by-book approach helps; see our Bible trivia questions and answers for a wide mix to find your weak spots.

Level 5: Expert. Try our hard Bible trivia questions, which are built to stump people who know their Bible. Then consider leading a group: teaching is the fastest way to find what you don't know.

Why your level matters more than your score

A score tells you how you did today. A level tells you what to do tomorrow. The questions here climb in difficulty on purpose: the Level 1 questions are about the stories most people hear in childhood, and the Level 5 questions need details you only pick up by reading the text itself.

That's also why trivia alone won't move you up. The people who score highest are the ones who have read the books, not memorized lists of answers. The Bible itself puts it simply:

Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

What does move you up is reading plus recall. Read a chapter, then test yourself on it the same day. Psychologists call this retrieval practice, and our guide on how to remember what you read in the Bible explains how to use it. A daily Bible quiz builds the same habit in two minutes a day.

Continue at your level in the app

This page is a one-time check. The app does the same thing continuously: its quiz path starts at your level and moves up as you improve, with thousands of questions on every book, chapter, character and story. Every answer is explained with the verse it comes from, just like the key above. Pair it with the reading plan (1 to 5 chapters a day, with a short quiz after each reading) and you'll see your level climb.

Frequently asked questions

How can I test my Bible knowledge?

Take a short quiz that covers the whole Bible at rising difficulty, like the 25-question test above, and score yourself honestly without looking anything up. Then note where you started missing questions. That point shows which part of the Bible to read next. Retest after a month of reading.

What is a good score on a Bible knowledge quiz?

On this test, 15 or more out of 25 (Level 3) means you know the main storyline and people of the Bible. 20 or more means you've read widely and remember details. A score under 9 usually means you know some famous stories but haven't yet read whole books, which is easy to change.

How long does it take to know the Bible well?

Reading the whole Bible takes about a year at three to four chapters a day, since there are 1,189 chapters. Knowing it well comes from reading it more than once and testing yourself as you go. Many people notice a real difference after reading one Gospel and Genesis carefully.

What are some basic Bible questions everyone should know?

Basic questions include who built the ark (Noah, Genesis 6:14), where Jesus was born (Bethlehem, Luke 2:4-7), how many apostles he chose (twelve, Luke 6:13), who killed Goliath (David, 1 Samuel 17:50) and what the first book is (Genesis). They cover the stories most people hear first.

Is this Bible test suitable for a group?

Yes. Read each question aloud, let everyone write their answers, then go through the key together and read the verse for any question that sparked debate. People can compare levels at the end. For a longer group game, use our Bible Jeopardy questions or the team rounds in Bible trivia for youth group.