• 72 ideas
  • Checked October 2026

Bible Art Journaling Ideas

Three margin designs per press, each with the passage, then what to letter and what to draw beside it.

Bible Art Journaling Ideas

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  1. Jeremiah 17:8: roots reaching down the margin to a riverColored pencil. A short trunk at the top, long brown roots below, and a blue band along the bottom edge.
  2. 1 Peter 2:5: stones fitted into a wall up the marginPencil. Uneven blocks, each a different size, built up from the bottom edge.
  3. Genesis 1:16: sun, moon and stars stacked down the marginColored pencil. The greater light at the top, the lesser light under it, then small stars to the foot of the page.

Next step Bible scenes and symbols to draw

All 72 ideas

Genesis and the early books 12

  • Exodus 3:2: a small bush in flame with "not consumed" Colored pencil. Green leaves kept whole inside orange and yellow flames. The two words go underneath.
  • Exodus 14:22: walls of water on each side of "dry ground" Colored pencil. Tall blue waves up both sides of the margin, a bare strip between, the two words in it.
  • Genesis 1:16: sun, moon and stars stacked down the margin Colored pencil. The greater light at the top, the lesser light under it, then small stars to the foot of the page.
  • Genesis 1:31: "very good" in open capitals beside the verse Pencil. Two words in outlined capitals, one above the other. Shade lightly inside the letters.
  • Genesis 2:10: one river parting into four down the page Colored pencil. A single blue line starts beside the verse, then splits into four that run to the bottom edge.
  • Genesis 8:11: a dove with an olive leaf in the top corner Pencil. Wings spread, flying in toward the text. Color only the leaf, in green pencil.
  • Genesis 9:13: a rainbow over the column with "in the cloud" Colored pencil. Arch the bands over the top of the text. Letter the three words in a small cloud at one end.
  • Genesis 15:5: stars crowding thicker toward the page edge Pencil. Tiny four-point stars, a few beside the verse and too many to count near the outer edge.
  • Genesis 28:12: a stairway up the margin and "its top reached" Pencil. Steps rise from the foot of the page to the top. Letter the three words on the highest step.
  • Joshua 1:9: "Be strong and courageous" in block capitals Pencil. One word per line, the widest word setting the width. Thicken every downstroke.
  • Numbers 6:24: "bless you, and keep you" in script down the side Pencil. Write it as one line turned sideways, reading upward. End it with a small flourish.
  • Ruth 1:16: "where you go, I will go" stepping down the margin Pencil. One word per line, each set a little further right than the last, like steps.

Psalms 12

  • Psalm 1:3: a fruit tree with its roots in a stream Colored pencil. Trunk up the margin, fruit among green leaves, and blue lines of water across the roots.
  • Psalm 8:3: a crescent moon and stars above the heading Pencil. Keep it in the top margin. Shade the sky softly around them and leave the moon as bare paper.
  • Psalm 19:1: "The heavens declare" arched like a sky Pencil. Three words on a wide curve across the top margin, the letters tallest in the middle.
  • Psalm 23:2: a stream down the margin beside "still waters" Colored pencil. Two smooth blue lines with green tufts on the banks. Letter the two words where it widens.
  • Psalm 30:5: a sunrise at the foot, "joy comes in the morning" Colored pencil. Half a sun on the bottom edge, rays reaching up the margin, the words between two rays.
  • Psalm 42:1: hoof prints leading down to a brook Pencil. Pairs of small split prints wander down the margin and stop at three wavy water lines.
  • Psalm 46:10: "Be still" lettered tall and narrow Pencil. Two words only, each letter the height of four lines of text, with wide gaps between letters.
  • Psalm 91:4: overlapping feathers down the edge of the text Pencil. Long feathers down the margin, each overlapping the next like roof tiles, tips toward the verse.
  • Psalm 103:12: an arrow with "east" and "west" at its tips Pencil. One long double-headed arrow across the bottom margin, with a word at each tip.
  • Psalm 121:1: three hills up the margin under "to the hills" Colored pencil. Overlapping green hills, palest at the top. The three words sit in the sky above them.
  • Psalm 139:14: "wonderfully made" in script and capitals Pencil. First word in flowing script, second in small capitals beneath it. Underline with one stroke.
  • Psalm 150:4: a tambourine, strings and a flute in a column Colored pencil. Three instruments one under another, with a few loose notes drifting between them.

Proverbs and wisdom 12

  • Ecclesiastes 3:1: an hourglass drawn above "a time" Pencil. A small hourglass beside the verse, sand in both halves. The two words go under it.
  • Ecclesiastes 4:12: a three-strand braid down the margin Colored pencil. Three colored lines crossing over and under from top to bottom, tied off at each end.
  • Job 38:22: snowflakes drifting out of a storehouse door Pencil. A small doorway in the top corner, with six-armed flakes drifting from it down the page.
  • Proverbs 3:6: a straight path up the margin, "paths straight" Pencil. Two ruled lines that narrow toward the top. The two words run along the path, bottom to top.
  • Proverbs 4:23: a spring bubbling up over "wellspring of life" Colored pencil. Blue curls rise from a ring of stones and spill both ways. The words go beneath the stones.
  • Proverbs 6:6: a file of ants climbing the margin Pencil. Each ant is three dots and six short legs. They walk in single file from the foot of the page to the top.
  • Proverbs 15:1: "A gentle answer" in soft rounded letters Pencil. Lowercase letters with no sharp corners. Shade a faint band behind the three words.
  • Proverbs 16:24: honeycomb cells holding "Pleasant words" Colored pencil. A patch of six-sided cells in yellow. Leave two cells clear and letter a word in each.
  • Proverbs 17:22: "A cheerful heart" on an upward curve Pencil. Three words on a line that bends like a smile, its ends higher than its middle.
  • Proverbs 18:10: a strong tower standing in the margin Pencil. Rows of stone blocks up to a notched top, with one small open door at the foot.
  • Proverbs 25:11: gold apples in a silver frame Colored pencil. Three yellow apples inside a gray oval border, drawn small beside the verse.
  • Proverbs 27:17: "Iron sharpens iron" in angular capitals Pencil. Straight strokes only, no curves. The middle word is smaller, between two ruled lines.

Prophets 12

  • Amos 5:24: a river bending down the page carrying "justice" Colored pencil. Two blue lines that swing wide and narrow again. Letter the word along the current.
  • Hosea 6:3: spring rain falling on the earth Colored pencil. Slanted blue dashes down the margin and a band of brown earth along the bottom edge.
  • Isaiah 9:2: a dark band broken by light and "a great light" Pencil. Shade the margin dark, leaving a bare wedge that opens from the verse. Letter the words in the wedge.
  • Isaiah 35:1: a rose opening out of dry cracked ground Colored pencil. Crazed lines for the dry land along the bottom, one stem and one red bloom.
  • Isaiah 40:8: a drooping flower beside "stands forever" Colored pencil. A bent stem dropping petals. Beside it, the two words in firm upright capitals.
  • Isaiah 40:31: one long feather carrying "wings like eagles" Pencil. A single flight feather the length of the margin. The three words run along its shaft.
  • Isaiah 43:2: rows of waves along the foot of the page Colored pencil. Three rows of blue waves under the text, the back row palest. Nothing else.
  • Isaiah 55:12: trees of the field with hills behind them Colored pencil. Two small trees in a field, branches raised, and a line of rounded green hills behind.
  • Jeremiah 17:8: roots reaching down the margin to a river Colored pencil. A short trunk at the top, long brown roots below, and a blue band along the bottom edge.
  • Jeremiah 29:11: "hope and a future" stacked on three lines Pencil. The first word is largest and the last matches it. Center all three lines on the margin.
  • Lamentations 3:23: "new every morning" in slim capitals Pencil. Three words on three lines, with a thin ruled line above the first and below the last.
  • Micah 6:8: "walk humbly" set small under a wide space Pencil. Leave most of the margin empty. The two words sit low, in plain lowercase.

Gospels 12

  • John 6:35: a round loaf over the words "bread of life" Colored pencil. A scored loaf in brown with steam lines above it. The three words curve beneath.
  • John 12:24: a wheat grain under the soil, a full ear above Colored pencil. A soil line across the margin, one seed below it and one stalk heavy with grain above.
  • Luke 2:10: "good news of great joy" on four lines Pencil. Small words in script, large words in capitals, all centered on the margin.
  • Luke 15:8: nine coins in a row and one rolled away Pencil. Nine small circles lined up beside the verse, a tenth near the bottom corner, and a lit lamp.
  • Mark 4:39: a flat sea line under "a great calm" Colored pencil. One ruled blue line with no waves, right across the bottom margin. The words go in the sky above it.
  • Mark 10:14: small footprints walking toward "come to me" Pencil. Child-size prints in pairs up the margin. The three words wait at the top.
  • Matthew 5:13: a pinch of salt spilled beside the verse Pencil. A small mound of fine dots, with a scatter rolling away from it toward the page edge.
  • Matthew 5:16: "let your light shine" with rays on each letter Pencil. Plain capitals. Add three short lines fanning from the top of every letter.
  • Matthew 6:28: lilies growing up the margin Colored pencil. Three tall stems from the bottom edge, each with one open trumpet flower.
  • Matthew 7:7: a door standing ajar under "Knock" Pencil. A plain paneled door with a strip of bare paper where it opens. The word goes above the frame.
  • Matthew 11:28: "I will give you rest" in loose script Pencil. Slow joined letters with long tails, the last word a little larger than the others.
  • Matthew 13:46: one pearl, drawn large beside the verse Colored pencil. A single pale ball with a gray shadow beneath it and one bare spot of shine. Nothing else.

Letters 12

  • 1 Corinthians 3:6: a seed, a watering can and a grown plant Colored pencil. Three small drawings in a column: a seed in the soil, a can pouring, then the plant grown tall.
  • 1 Peter 2:5: stones fitted into a wall up the margin Pencil. Uneven blocks, each a different size, built up from the bottom edge.
  • 1 Thessalonians 5:17: three words filling the whole margin Pencil. The whole verse is three words. Letter one per line, as tall as the margin is wide.
  • 2 Corinthians 4:7: a plain clay jar with treasure at its mouth Colored pencil. A brown pot with no pattern. Fill its open mouth with yellow, the one bright color in the drawing.
  • 2 Peter 1:19: a lamp in a dark corner and a morning star Pencil. Shade the lower margin dark around a small lamp. High above it, one star is left as bare paper.
  • Ephesians 3:17: "rooted and grounded" with roots on the letters Pencil. Capitals on a ground line. Thin roots grow down from the foot of every letter.
  • Galatians 6:9: a sheaf of wheat tied under "due season" Colored pencil. Yellow stalks bound with one band, heads fanned out. The two words go above.
  • Hebrews 12:1: a running lane up the margin with "the race" Pencil. Two ruled lines with lane marks, from the foot of the page to the top. The two words run along the lane.
  • James 1:17: rays coming down the margin under "from above" Colored pencil. The two words at the top edge. Straight yellow rays fan down from them toward the verse.
  • James 3:4: a big ship steered by a very small rudder Pencil. Hull and sails fill the width of the margin. Draw the rudder tiny at the stern and ring it once.
  • Philippians 4:13: "I can do all things" in bold capitals Pencil. Five short words on five lines, flush left, with a thick rule down their left side.
  • Romans 12:12: "rejoicing in hope" as the first of three lines Pencil. Letter the verse's three phrases one under another, the first in the largest letters.

How it works

Bible art journaling ideas for the margin, one passage at a time. Each of the 72 names the book, chapter and verse, then what to letter and what to draw beside it in pencil or colored pencil.

Read the full guide

Bible journaling doodles, lettering, or both

A second sorting, under More filters, splits the list three ways. Picture only gives the doodles: a dove with an olive leaf, a file of ants, a three-strand braid. Lettering only gives a few words of the verse to letter. Lettering and picture pairs the two.

Why pencil

Bibles are commonly printed on thin paper. Pencil and colored pencil are dry, so nothing soaks through to the other side, and a pencil line can be erased. Every hint names one of the two.

  • Quoted words follow the World English Bible. Other translations may word a verse differently.
  • Letter lightly first. To center a line, count its letters and start from the middle one.

Questions and answers

What are easy Bible doodles for a margin?

Small pictures with few lines: a pinch of salt spilled beside Matthew 5:13, hoof prints leading down to a brook at Psalm 42:1, stars crowding toward the page edge at Genesis 15:5. Picture only holds 29.

What do you need for Bible art journaling?

For the designs in this list, a pencil, an eraser and a few colored pencils. No design here uses paint, ink or marker.

Which translation are the quoted words from?

The World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every reference and every quoted phrase was checked against it, last on 3 October 2026. No quotation is longer than six words.

How is this different from Bible drawing ideas?

Bible drawing ideas are scenes and symbols drawn as pictures in their own right. These are small designs for the margin beside one verse.

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