Free Printable Books of the Bible Charts: Protestant 66 and Catholic 73

About these books of the bible handouts

A books of the Bible chart does two jobs in a faith school classroom: it gives students the order of the books so they can find a reference quickly, and it shows how the library is organized. Law, history, poetry, prophets, gospels and letters are different kinds of writing, and children read them differently once they can see the groups. The Protestant chart lists the 66 books in the order of the King James Version, 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New.

The Catholic chart lists 73 books, 46 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New. The extra seven are Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach and Baruch, marked on the chart; the Catholic canon also includes additions to Esther and Daniel. The two lists are separate versions on purpose. Families and parishes use whichever canon their tradition holds, and a chart that blended them would be wrong for both.

The blank page asks students to write all 66 books in order, with the divisions printed at the top as a scaffold, and the Protestant chart doubles as its answer key. The divisions poster is a landscape wall piece that gathers the books into their groups with the count for each. Start with the poster for younger students, move to the numbered charts for reference, and use the fill-in page as a memory check.

How to use them

1. Choose the canon your school uses: Protestant or Catholic.
2. Print the numbered chart for each student's Bible and the divisions poster for the wall.
3. Read one group aloud together, such as the Law or the Gospels.
4. Have students find one book in their own Bible and say how many books come before it.
5. Use the fill-in page after two weeks of practice, then check it against the chart.
6. Repeat the fill-in page monthly to build speed.

Classroom tips

• Teach the Old Testament in five groups before asking for individual books; five chunks are easier than thirty-nine names.
• Chant the Minor Prophets or the Letters of Paul in order to a simple beat; rhythm helps memory more than repetition alone.
• Let students race to find a reference by group name, then by book name, to show why the order matters.
• Keep a laminated chart in each Bible bin for quick checks during Bible lessons.

Notes on this page

• Protestant and Catholic Bibles differ: Protestant Bibles have 66 books and Catholic Bibles have 73. The two lists are separate versions here and are never mixed.
• Protestant book names and order follow the King James Version. Catholic order follows modern Catholic Bibles; the Douay-Rheims orders some books differently.
• The Council of Trent formally defined the 73-book canon in 1546, though earlier councils already listed it.
• Group headings are common teaching groupings, not part of the biblical text.

Where the facts come from

• scrollmapper/bible_databases, King James Version (1769 text): Public-domain KJV text; verses extracted and compared by program
• scrollmapper/bible_databases, Douay-Rheims (Challoner): First 73 books are the Catholic canon; titles compared by program with the printed list
• United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Bible: Catholic book order and names (checked in the October 4 research pass; not re-fetched in the build session)

Last reviewed 2026-10-03. Handout Hero designs are original and made for this site. They are general reference material; check your own school, district or tradition where it matters.