How to Cite the Bible: APA, MPA, & Chicago Styles for Students

If you’re a religious studies student, learning how to cite the Bible is pretty important. You might also need to know how to cite the Bible if you study other related courses at college or university. 

In some respects, citing the Bible is more complicated than referencing other works. After all, there are numerous editions of the same Book, and each Bible has numerous books, chapters, verses, and references within it. 

There are also different citation style guides to be aware of. Notably, APA, MPA, and Chicago references are used. Therefore, you should check which guide your school uses before referencing the Bible to make sure you’re correct. 

In this article, we reveal how to cite the Bible in each of these styles. We use real-life examples and show you how to use Arvin’s AI tools for instant and accurate citations for all your future assignments.

First: Do you need to cite the Bible?

If you take a direct quote from any chapter of the Bible, you must cite it. This is the case if you take a quotation or paraphrase one of the stories of the Bible. 

As the Bible is made up of 66 books – 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament – there are unique citation guidelines to be aware of. 

Also, to add to the difficulty of citing the Bible, research shows that there are more than 900 translations of the Bible. So, you need to be aware of the Bible that you’re citing before including it in your assignment. The most common are: 

• King James Version (KJV) & the New King James Version (NKJV)
• New International Version (NIV) 
• English Standard Version (ESV) 
• Good News Bible (GNB)
• The Message (MSG) 
• New American Standard Bible (NASB)
• Good News Translation (GNT) 
• New English Translation (NET) 

If you’re taking a Bible passage directly from the book, you will find details of the Bible you’re using on the cover. On the inside sleeve, you will find the publication details needed for your citation. However, if taking a quote from an online source, always check which Bible it’s from. This is crucial, as each translation is slightly different.

How to cite the Bible in APA

APA is a commonly used citation guide within social science subjects. As per the requirements of the APA style guide, the Bible is treated as a classical work. So, if your school uses the APA style guide, here are the details you need to know for citing the Bible:

Bibliography/endnotes

Bible Version Title. (Year). Publisher. URL

In-text citations

Bible Version, Year, Book, Chapter: Verse

Examples

To illustrate how to cite the Bible, we’re using a Good News Bible, published in 2017. Note that when you cite the Bible, you reference the year the edition you’re using was printed, not the original Bible. Below are examples of how you would cite a passage in this edition of the GNB: 

• In-text citation: Good News Bible, 2017, Job 26:3
• Bibliography/endnotes: Good News Bible. (2017). American Bible Society.

How to cite the Bible in MLA

Following the MLA style guide, the Bible version should be included the first time you cite the Bible within the text. In later references, you can remove the version of the Bible if you wish, which will help to keep your references succinct. Here are the styles to follow and an example of how to cite the Bible in MLA:

Bibliography/endnotes

The Holy Bible. Version, place of publication, year. 

In-text citation

(Book. Chapter: Verse, Bible version)

Examples

Once again, we’re using the Good News Version to illustrate how to cite the Bible in MLA style: 

• In-text citation: (Job. 27:4, The Good News Version). 
• Bibliography/endnotes: The Holy Bible. The Good News Version, Philadelphia, 2017.

How to cite the Bible in Chicago

Following the Chicago style format, you should include Bible citations in footnotes or endnotes. You may also use parenthetical citations if you prefer. 

Bibliography/endnotes (optional)

The Holy Bible: Version. Publisher, year.

In-text citation

Book, chapter, verse (Bible version).

Examples

Our third and final example shows how to cite the Bible in the Chicago style, once again using the Good News edition: 

• In-text citation: Job, 29:2 (Good News Bible). 
• Bibliography/endnotes: The Holy Bible: Good News Bible, American Bible Society, 2017.

How to cite the Bible – abbreviations to know

When citing the Bible in academic work, you must use the book abbreviations rather than the full name of the author. So, Genesis becomes Gen., and Matthew becomes Matt. You should include a full stop after the book’s name to indicate its abbreviated appearance. Below are the abbreviations to know for both the Old and New Testaments:

Old Testament abbreviations

• Genesis: Gen. 
• Exodus: Exod. 
• Leviticus: Lev. 
• Numbers: Num. 
• Deuteronomy: Deut. 
• Joshua: Josh. 
• Judges: Judg. 
• Ruth: Ruth 
• 1 Samuel: 1 Sam. 
• 2 Samuel: 2 Sam. 
• 1 Kings: 1 Kings 
• 2 Kings: 2 Kings 
• 1 Chronicles: 1 Chron. 
• 2 Chronicles: 2 Chron. 
• Ezra: Ezra 
• Nehemiah: Neh. 
• Esther: Esth. 
• Job: Job 
• Psalms: Ps. 
• Proverbs: Prov. 
• Ecclesiastes: Eccl. 
• Song of Solomon: Song. 
• Isaiah: Isa. 
• Jeremiah: Jer. 
• Lamentations: Lam. 
• Ezekiel: Ezek. 
• Daniel: Dan. 
• Hosea: Hos. 
• Joel: Joel 
• Amos: Amos 
• Obadiah: Obad.
• Jonah: Jonah 
• Micah: Mic. 
• Nahum: Nah. 
• Habakkuk: Hab. 
• Zephaniah: Zeph. 
• Haggai: Hag. 
• Zechariah: Zech. 
• Malachi: Mal.

New Testament abbreviations

• Matthew: Matt. 
• Mark: Mark 
• Luke: Luke 
• John: John 
• Acts: Acts 
• Romans: Rom. 
• 1 Corinthians: 1 Cor. 
• 2 Corinthians: 2 Cor. 
• Galatians: Gal. 
• Ephesians: Eph. 
• Colossians: Col. 
• 1 Thessalonians: 1 Thess. 
• 2 Thessalonians: 2 Thess. 
• 1 Timothy: 1 Tim. 
• 2 Timothy: 2 Tim. 
• Titus: Titus 
• Philemon: Philem. 
• Hebrews: Heb. 
• James: James 
• 1 Peter: 1 Pet. 
• 2 Peter: 2 Pet. 
• 1 John: 1 John 
• 2 John: 2 John 
• 3 John: 3 John 
• Jude: Jude 
• Revelation: Rev.

How to cite the Bible the easy way

Did you know that you can use Arvin’s suite of AI tools to cite the Bible in seconds? This is so much easier than writing citations yourself. It also prevents errors, which are commonplace when students work on their citations manually. 

After all, if you cite your entire assignment manually, it can take almost as long as it took you to write the essay in the first instance. Using AI to cite the Bible and other sources will save you lots of time and effort while improving your work’s accuracy. 

Below, we show you how to use Arvin to cite the Bible and which prompts to use:

Arvin provided each of these Bible citations in seconds. So, as you’re working on your essay, ask Arvin to provide instant citations for each of the sources you mention. You can then work on your bibliography or endnotes as you go, ensuring accuracy while saving lots of time.

Essay citation tips for all students

Whether you’re citing the Bible, a journal article, or an e-book, you can follow these citation tips for the best results:

Understand the different rules for each publication

The way you cite the Bible is different from the way you cite a standard book. Equally, you need to cite a PDF differently from an article. 

On top of this, the requirements listed in the APA, MLA, and Chicago styles are notably different from one another.

Therefore, you can see why students struggle with referencing so much. As shown above, you can use Arvin’s AI tools to make life so much easier when citing various publications. 

If you don’t want to use AI, familiarize yourself with the different rules for articles, websites, PDFs, and books so your citations are 100% accurate.

Cite as you go

Though it might be tempting to work on your references at the end of your essay, doing so can be extremely confusing. In fact, you will almost certainly forget to reference key passages, and you may even lose track of the articles and books that you have used.

So, to avoid this from happening, get into the habit of citing on the go. As soon as you’ve used a source in your work, add the in-text citation and bibliography entry. Then, once you’re finished writing, double-check your citations for spelling and accuracy before submitting your work.

Have a style guide handy

Whether you’re writing a short essay or a dissertation, print off and have the relevant style guide handy to help with your citations. As illustrated in this article, the rules and regulations laid out by APA, MLA, and Chicago are very different. 

So, while you don’t need to memorize the specifications listed in your school’s style guide, you do need a copy of the guide on hand when working on your references. We recommend printing the guide off, so you have a hard copy to refer to when checking your work.

The bottom line: How to cite the Bible

If you take a direct quotation from the Old or New Testament or paraphrase a passage, you must cite the Bible. But the Bible is a unique historical text and it doesn’t play by the same citation rules as other books. 

Your first port of call should be checking which style guide you need to follow, be it APA, MLA, or Chicago. Then, check the edition of the Bible that you’re using, including the year it was published, where it was published, and the publishing house responsible for your Bible. 

You can then use this information to accurately cite the Bible. Or, to save yourself the trouble, you can use Arvin Ai to cite the Bible for you. Make sure you prompt our tools with accurate information to receive Bible citations in seconds.

How to cite the Bible FAQ

How do you properly cite the Bible?

This depends on the style guide you’re using. For instance, in APA, the correct citation is Bible Version Title. (Year). Publisher. URL. In MLA, the correct citation is The Holy Bible. Version, place of publication, year. In Chicago, you should cite the Bible in the following way: The Holy Bible: Version. Publisher, year.

How do you cite the Bible in an essay example?

Here’s an example of how you should cite a Bible passage from the Book of Exodus in the Bible, using the MLA guide: “The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in Egypt.” (Exod. 12:2, The Good News Version).

How do I cite the Bible in-text APA?

Here’s the correct format for citing the Bible in-text APA, using an example from Genesis: “When Noah was 600 years old, on the seventeenth day of the second month, all the outlets of the vast body of water beneath the earth burst open.” (Good News Bible, 2017, Gen. 7:11).

What does NIV stand for in a Bible citation?

NIV stands for New International Version. It is one of the most commonly used English translations of the Bible in the world today.

When was the King James Bible written?

The King James Bible was written in 1611. Six committees, consisting of 54 scholars, were tasked with preparing the new translation from Hebrew, Greek, and Latin texts. It remains one of the most popular Bible editions today.