- basic format for chapter and verse: John 11:35 (in computer John 11:35)
not: John 1135
not: John 11,35
not: John 11;35
not: John 11.35
not: John 11: 35
not preferable: John XI.32 or John XI,32
NOTE: In general, Roman numerals are falling out of usage.
NOTE: This author has adopted the practice of bold facing chapter designations. The practice is particularly helpful in long listing of references.
format for a chapter-verse series of two in a sentence: John 11:35; 1 Thessalonians 5:16
not: John 11:35, 1 Thessalonians 5:16
not: John 11:35. 1 Thessalonians 5:16
format for a chapter-verse series of more than two in a sentence: John 11:35; 1 Thessalonians 5:16; Hebrews 13:25
possible: John 11:35, 1 Thessalonians 5:16, and Hebrews 13:25
not: John 11:35 and 1 Thessalonians 5:16 and Hebrews 13:25
format for books that have verse divisions only: Jude 2 (cp. Obadiah, Philemon, 2 John, 3 John)
not: Jude 1:2, and the like
- format for more than one book with the same name: 1 John, 2 John, 3 John
not: 1st John, 2nd John, 3rd John
not preferable: I John, II John, III John
NOTE: In general, Roman numerals are falling out of usage.
NOTE: The cases where there are two or more books with the same name are 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, 1 & 2 Corinthians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, 1 & 2 Peter; 1, 2 & 3 John.
format in a sentence: From John 11:35 we know that Jesus could feel sorrow.
not: From Jn. 11:35 we know that Jesus could feel sorrow.
not: From John chapter eleven, verse thirty-five we know that Jesus could feel sorrow [Although in reading, we word out scripture references, in writing it is unnecessarily cumbersome.]
NOTE: Do not abbreviate in a regular sentence except perhaps in an information footnote. To save space, Bible dictionaries, Bible encyclopedias, and other reference tools sometimes abbreviate even without periods even outside parentheses; but the procedure is not customary in standard situations.
- format for more than one verse within a chapter: John 10:7, 9, 11, 13; 14:6
not: John 10:7; 10:9; 10:11; 10:13; 14:6
format for more than one chapter in a series: Mark 16, John 6, 8
format for a mix between plain chapters and chapters with verse sub-divisions : Mark 16, John 6, 8; Romans 16:25-27; 1 John 5
format for a set of verses: John 10:7-18; 14:1-6
not: John 10:7-10:18; 14:1-14:6
not: John 10:7-18; 14:1 - 6
- format for a set of verses with one verse emphasized: John 10:7-9-19
format for a set of chapters without sub-divisions: Matthew 5-7
not necessary: Matthew 5:1-7:29 (only 29 verses in Matthew 7)
format for a set of verses that crosses chapter divisions: John 7:53-8:11
not: John 7:53 through 8:11
not: John 7:53; 8:1-11 (only 53 verses in John 7)
not: Hebrews 10:32-39; 11:1-12 (39 verses in Hebrews 10)
- format for reference to part of a verse: 2 Peter 2:1b corresponds with Jude 4d.
format within parenthesis: (John 11:35) or (John 11:35)
not: (John 11:35)
NOTE: Whether the book reference is abbreviated depends on how familiar the reader is likely to be with the names of biblical books.
- format for a chapter-verse series within parenthesis: (John 11:35; 1 Thessaslonians 5:16; Hebrews 13:25)
reference with a statement: “Jesus wept” (John 11:35).
not: “Jesus wept.” (John 11:35)
not: “Jesus wept (John 11:35).”
not customary: “Jesus wept [John 11:35].”
references with a question: “What is truth?” (John 18:38).
not: “What is truth?” (John 18:38)
not: “What is truth” (John 18:38)?
not customary: “What is truth [John 18:38]?”
- reference with an exclamation: “Forgive me this wrong!” (1 Corinthians 12:13).
not: “Forgive me this wrong!” (1 Corinthians 12:13)
not: “Forgive me this wrong (1 Corinthians 12:13)!”
not customary: “Forgive me this wrong [1 Corinthians 12:13]!”
reference with a reference: “Now this, He ascended [Psalm 68:18], what is it but that he also descended into the lower parts of the earth?” (Ephesians 4:9).
format for indicating comparable statements: “Love covers a multitude of sins” (James 5:20; cp. 1 Peter 4:8; Proverbs 10:12).
format for indicating contrasting ideas: Often we must combine differing principles in order to deal with the complete picture (Proverbs 26:4 vs. 26:5; Galatians 6:2 vs. 6:5).
Sentences do not begin with numbers; consequently, sentences with a scripture reference should be arranged to avoid beginning with the chapter-verse reference : John 3:16 may be the start of the gospel writer’s words.
not: 3:16 may be the start of the writer’s words in the fourth gospel.
A sentence may begin with the number that identifies one book of two or three books with the same name: 2 Peter 2 has many parallels with the Book of Jude.
not: Second Peter 2 has many parallels with the Book of Jude.
- abbreviations for books of the Bible
Gen. Ex. Lev. Num. Deut. [Dt.] Josh. Jud. Ruth 1 Sam. 2 Sam. 1 Kg. 2 Kg. 1 Ch. 2 Ch. Ezra Neh. Esther [Es.] Job Ps. Pro. [Pr., Prov.] Eccl. Song of Sol. [S. of Sol.] Is. Jer. Lam. Dan. Hos. Joel Amos Obad. [Ob.] Jon. Mic. Nah. Hab. Zeph. Hag. Zech. Mal. Mt. Mk. Lk. Jn. Acts Rom. 1 Cor. 2 Cor. Gal. Eph. Phil. Col. 1 Th. 2 Th. 1 Tim. 2 Tim. Tit. Heb. James [Ja.] 1 Pet. 2 Pet. 1 Jn. 2 Jn. 3 Jn. Jude Rev.
NOTE: If your group of citations includes apocryphal works, a distinction needs to be made between Ecclesiastes and Ecclesiasticus. Using Eccl. for both will be confusing. Sometimes Ecclus. is used for the latter.
NOTE: It is probably best not to abbreviate the underlined books at all. Sometimes writers abbreviate these short books in some way, but there is not much reason to create an abbreviation that is virtually as long as the unabbreviated form (Ac. for Acts, Exod. for Exodus, Judg. for Judges, Jb. for Job, Ju. for Jude, e.g.). The suggestions above do use Mk. and Lk., Jn. to create uniformity across all four gospels. Using Ez. for Ezra is not advisable because it could be mistaken for Ezekiel. The same thing could be said about Jo. for Job: it would create confusion with Jonah, John. Nevertheless, Phil. can be used for both Philippians and Philemon because the later has no chapter divisions.
reference to a psalm without verse reference in a sentence format: The term Messiah is introduced into the Old Testament in Psalm 2.
not preferable: The term Messiah is introduced into the Old Testament in Psalms 2.
- format for citation from a specific version, or translation, of the Bible: John 3:16 (NIV)
format for parenthetical citation from a specific version: (Jn. 3:16 NIV; Ephesians 2:3 NASB)
not: (John 3:16 [NIV]; Ephesians 2:3 [NASB])
- standard abbreviations for common translations in current use
American Standard Version (ASV)
King James Version (KJV, or AV = Authorized Version)
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
New English Bible (NEB)
New International Version (NIV)
New King James Version (NKJV)
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
Revised Standard Version (RSV)
Today’s English Version [= Good News for Modern Man] (TEV).
NOTE: Specify the translation if you are quoting the exact wording, unless that wording is common to other translations. If all the references in a document come from the same version, indicate the version in a footnote or introductory comment in order to avoid unnecessary repetition. In some cases it may be necessary to indicate which edition of a translation you are using; Today’s English Version, for example, has gone through several editions since it was first published.
- book-chapter verse references in a sentence: The most familiar verse in the Bible is John 3:16.
not: The most familiar verse in the Bible is John 3:16.
not: The most familiar verse in the Bible is “John 3:16.”
NOTE: It is customary to italicize whole, free-standing works and to put quotation marks around sub-units within a whole. The Bible, however, is so well known that these conventions have dropped out of usage.
- The Book of Acts provides the historical framework we have for most of the epistles of Paul.
not customary: The book of Acts provides the historical framework we have for most of the epistles of Paul.
NOTE: The same pattern applies to the Gospel of John, the Epistle of First Corinthians, the Apocalypse of John.
- Paul is the author of First Corinthians.
also acceptable: Paul is the author of 1 Corinthians (or I Corinthians).
NOTE: In reading or speaking the name of the book, it is customary to say “First Corinthians,” not “One Corinthians.”
Special Notations
- useful abbreviations in scripture citation
MT = Masoretic Text, the standard form of the Hebrew Old Testament
LXX = Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament that was most widely used by Greek-speaking Jews, or Hellenists. It is so-called because tradition has it that seventy men were involved in making the translation; septuaginta is the Latin word for “seventy.”
TR = Textus Receptus (Received Text), the “received text” that lay behind the Authorized Version of 1611; the Greek text itself is sometimes called “the majority text” because the greatest number of extant New Testament manuscripts represent this text type.
- Hebrew vs. English references in the Psalms
If you are citing the Hebrew text of the Psalms, you must remember that different versification is used in many Psalms. Those without introductory notations have the same numbering as the English (Psalm 1, 2, etc.). Others that have brief notations incorporate the introductory comment in the first verse (Psalm 11, 14, etc.). Many, however, number the introduction as verse 1, which means that the numbering is one off compared to standard English numbering (Psalm 3, 4, etc.). In a few cases the introduction is assigned two verses in the Hebrew; so the subsequent numbering is different by two (Psalm 51, 52, 54). The Hebrew sometimes makes other minor adjustments relative to the English. In Psalm 18, for example, “and he said” is part of the introduction in English Bibles, but the Hebrew text makes it part of the next verse. A format for clarifying the text intended is Psalm 3:3 MT and in parenthesis (Psalm 3:3 MT); if you are indicating both, from the English viewpoint it would be Psalm 11:2 (= 3:3 MT) and in parenthesis (Psalm 11:2 [= 3:3 MT])
- Septuagint vs. English references in the Psalms
The Septuagint follows the Hebrew numbering by including introductory comments in verse 1 (the equivalent of Psalm 13, 14, etc., in the Hebrew) or assigning them a separate verse (Psalm 3, 4, etc.) or two (the equivalent of Psalm 51, 52, 54 in the Hebrew). In addition, however, the numbering of the Psalms themselves is off by one beginning with Psalm 9. Psalm 9 and 10 are combined so that every subsequent Psalm number are off by one. The Septuagint divides Psalm 116 and Psalm 147, which throws the numbering off again in the other direction. There is also an added Psalm at the end, Psalm 151, which does not appear in the standard Hebrew text. In many cases, then, both the chapter and verse designations are different from the corresponding English referencing system: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your lovingkindness” (Psalm 51:1 = 50:3 LXX = 51:3 MT).
- Septuagint vs. English references in Jeremiah
The Book of Jeremiah in the Septuagint is significantly different from the Hebrew Masoretic text both in extent and order. Citations made from it need to be correlated with English format, which is based on the Masoretic text.
In the Septuagint (LXX) 1 & 2 Samuel plus 1 & 2 Kings are called 1, 2, 3 & 4 Kings [or Bas., for Basileus, Βασιλεύς]. 1 & 2 Ch. are called 1 & 2 Par., an abbreviation for Paralipomenon. Song of Solomon is called Canticles (Canticum, abbreviated Cant. A number of other differences in titles and spellings need to be observed when making references from this version of the Old Testament.
1 John 5:7 is now generally set aside as not being part of the original letter of 1 John. In subsequent translations verse 6 is divided in half to make the same number of verses in the chapter. As a result, if you cite 1 John 5:7 from the King James Version, you need to indicate that the quotation is from the King James; otherwise, the reader will be confused if he reads the verse from a twentieth-century translation.
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