You have found the verse you want. Now you have to write it down — in an essay, a sermon outline, a small-group handout, a card for someone who is grieving — and you pause, because you are not sure whether it is John 3:16 or John 3.16, whether the version goes in brackets, or whether you are allowed to change “thee” to “you.”
Quoting Scripture accurately is a small discipline with a large payoff. It makes your writing easier to check, it shows respect for the text, and it keeps you from accidentally putting words in God’s mouth. This guide covers how to quote a Bible verse correctly in every setting you are likely to need — plain writing, academic papers in MLA, APA and Chicago style, sermons, and social media — plus the mistakes that trip people up most often.
The Anatomy of a Bible Reference
Every Scripture reference has three parts, always in the same order:
- Book — the name of the biblical book (John, Psalms, 1 Corinthians).
- Chapter — the number that follows the book name.
- Verse — the number after the colon.
So Philippians 4:13 means the book of Philippians, chapter 4, verse 13. Read it aloud as “Philippians four thirteen.” Nobody says “colon.”
Worth knowing: those numbers are not part of the original text. Chapter divisions are generally credited to Stephen Langton in the early thirteenth century, and the verse numbers of the New Testament to the printer Robert Estienne in 1551. They are a navigation system added later — enormously useful, but not inspired. That is why a “verse” sometimes cuts a sentence in half, and why reading the surrounding paragraph matters more than the number.
How to Write a Bible Verse: The Basic Format
For ordinary writing — a blog post, a newsletter, a church bulletin — this is all you need:
- Single verse: John 3:16
- Range of verses: Romans 8:38–39 (use an en dash, not a hyphen, if your tool allows it)
- Non-consecutive verses in one chapter: Psalm 23:1, 4
- Across chapters in one book: Matthew 5:3–7:29
- Two different passages: Isaiah 40:31; Philippians 4:13 (semicolon between them)
- Whole chapter: 1 Corinthians 13 (no colon at all)
- Numbered books: 1 Peter 5:7 — the numeral goes first, with a space, and is read “First Peter”
Book names are always capitalised. “The Bible” is capitalised; “biblical” is not. And you do not italicise book names or the word Bible.
Punctuation: Where the Reference Goes
Short quotations run inside your own sentence, in double quotation marks, with the reference in parentheses after the closing quote mark and before the full stop:
Paul writes, “I can do all this through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13).
Notice the full stop lands after the bracket, not inside the quotation. That single detail is the most common formatting error in Christian writing.
If you introduce the reference first, no parentheses are needed:
In Philippians 4:13, Paul says he can do all things through Christ who strengthens him.
Longer quotations become block quotations: indented, no quotation marks, reference at the end. The threshold depends on the style you are following — more than four typed lines of prose in MLA, forty or more words in APA. In ordinary writing, use your judgement: if the quotation is more than about two sentences, set it apart so the reader can see where Scripture begins and your voice resumes.
Always Name the Translation
This is the step most people skip, and it matters more than the punctuation. The Bible was not written in English, and English translations differ — sometimes meaningfully. Quoting a verse without saying which version you used is like quoting a statistic without saying where it came from.
Standard abbreviations include KJV (King James Version), NKJV, NIV (New International Version), ESV (English Standard Version), NASB, NLT (New Living Translation), NRSV, CSB, and MSG (The Message).
Two accepted ways to include it:
- Name it on first use, then let it stand: “…unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from the ESV.” This is what most books and church publications do.
- Attach it to each reference: (Philippians 4:13 NIV) or (Philippians 4:13, NIV). Do this when you are deliberately quoting from more than one version.
How to Quote Scripture in MLA, APA and Chicago
MLA style
MLA separates chapter and verse with a period, not a colon, and asks you to name the version the first time you cite it:
- First citation: (New International Version, John 3.16)
- Later citations from the same version: (John 3.16)
The Bible you used goes in your Works Cited list, with the version title italicised.
APA style
APA treats the Bible as a book with no author. Use a colon between chapter and verse, and include the version and its publication dates:
- In text: (New International Version, 1978/2011, John 3:16)
- Reference list: an entry for the version itself, with original and current publication years.
Chicago style
Chicago puts Scripture in footnotes rather than the bibliography, uses abbreviated book names with a full stop, and puts the version in parentheses:
- Footnote: 1 Cor. 13:4–7 (NRSV).
If your instructor or publisher has a house style, that always wins. When in doubt, ask before you format eighty citations the wrong way.
How to Break Down a Scripture Reference You Do Not Recognise
Sometimes you receive a reference rather than a verse — scribbled on a card, printed in a hymnal, dropped into a text message. Work through it from left to right.
- Look for a leading numeral. “2 Tim.” means Second Timothy, the second of two letters to the same person — not chapter 2.
- Expand the abbreviation. Common ones catch people out: Ps. (Psalms), Prov. (Proverbs), Eccl. (Ecclesiastes), Rom. (Romans), Heb. (Hebrews), Rev. (Revelation — singular, never “Revelations”).
- Split at the colon. Left of it is the chapter, right of it is the verse or verse range.
- Read the whole paragraph around it. Then read the chapter. A verse quoted without its context is the single easiest way to make the Bible say something it never said.
A topical Bible or a concordance is useful here: both index verses by subject so you can find every passage on forgiveness or hope rather than relying on the one verse you already remember. If you want a fuller method for this, see our guide on how to study the Bible effectively.
Six Mistakes to Avoid
- Quoting from memory. Memory smooths verses into what we expect them to say. Always check the text before you publish it.
- Blending translations. Half a phrase from the KJV and half from the NIV produces a verse that exists in no Bible.
- Cutting the qualifier. Jeremiah 29:11 reads very differently once you notice it is addressed to exiles who have just been told to settle in Babylon for seventy years.
- Writing “Revelations.” The book is Revelation.
- Silent edits. If you change a word, mark it with square brackets. If you cut words from the middle, use an ellipsis.
- Ignoring copyright. Most modern translations permit generous free quotation — often several hundred to a thousand verses — provided you do not reproduce a whole book of the Bible and you include the version’s required copyright notice. Check the publisher’s permissions page before printing anything commercially.
Quoting Scripture Out Loud and Online
When you are speaking, say the reference before the verse, not after: “Listen to Isaiah forty, verse thirty-one.” That gives people time to find it. Pause briefly before you begin the quotation and again when you finish, so the congregation can hear the seam between Scripture and commentary.
On social media or a printed card, the convention relaxes but the honesty should not. Keep the verse intact, keep the reference attached, and include the version. A graphic that carries a beautiful sentence with no reference is a nice sentiment; the reference is what lets someone go and read it for themselves.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a Bible verse a quote?
Yes. When you reproduce the wording of a verse you are quoting a source, and it should be marked and referenced like any other quotation. The usual term is a “Scripture quotation,” and the book-chapter-verse pointer that goes with it is called a Scripture reference or citation.
What is a quote from the Bible called?
A Scripture quotation, or simply a Scripture. The reference itself is often called “chapter and verse.” A verse someone adopts as a personal theme for their life is called a “life verse.”
Do you put a Bible verse in quotation marks?
Yes, for short quotations run into your own sentence. No, for indented block quotations — the indentation already signals that the words are quoted, and adding marks doubles up.
Do you italicise Bible verses?
No. Neither the quotation nor the book name is italicised. The only thing you italicise is the title of a translation in an MLA Works Cited entry.
Can you write out Bible verses by hand?
Yes, and it is one of the oldest and most effective ways to absorb Scripture. Copying a passage slowly forces you to notice words you would otherwise skim. Keep a translation open beside you rather than working from memory.
How do you cite the whole Bible rather than one verse?
Cite the specific translation you used, with its publisher and publication year, exactly as you would any other book. “The Bible” on its own is not a citable edition.
The Point Behind the Punctuation
None of these rules exist for their own sake. They exist so that anyone reading your words can go and check them — open the book, read the chapter, and see whether the verse means what you said it means. That is a good thing to invite. Careful quotation is not pedantry; it is a way of saying that the text matters more than your point.
Get the format right once, and you will never have to think about it again. Then you can spend your attention where it belongs: on what the verse actually says.
