Citing the Bible and other Biblical Resources

• Books and versions of the Bible are NOT

  • underlined 

  • italicized

  • or put in "quotation marks" 

• Names and versions of the Hebrew and Christian bibles are capitalized. 

• Do not abbreviate books of the Bible in the text of your paper. 

 Example:  2 Samuel 12 records the prophet Nathan’s confrontation of King David.

 Example:  The identity of the author of the book of Hebrews is not certain.

Cite the Bible in footnotes, endnotes, or parenthetical notes. 

• You do not need to include the Bible in your bibliography.

When you are citing a particular passage of Scripture 

• Include the abbreviated name of the book, the chapter number, and the verse number—never a page number. 
• Chapter and verse are separated by a colon.

Example:  1 Cor. 13:4, 15:12-19

Example:  Gn 1:1-2, 2:1-3; Jn 1:1-14

Note that Chicago Style includes two lists of abbreviations for books of the Bible. 

• A traditional abbreviation list and a shorter abbreviation list. 
• Access the lists of abbreviations. 
• You may use either list, but be consistent throughout your paper.  Or if you like, you may check with your professor to see which form s/he prefers.

Include the name of the version you are citing. 

• Spell out the name of the version, at least in the first reference, or use abbreviations without preceding or internal punctuation. 
• After the first citation you need to indicate the version only if you quote from another version.

^** Information taken from the Chicago Manual of Style, 17^th ed., 2017, sections 14.239 - 14.240.