- How to Cite the Bible
- The rules for Bible citations have changed completely; you must now cite the Bible version in the body of the paper and include it in your reference list. Please see the appropriate sample APA-7 paper for your level of study for a detailed discussion of this.
- Note that APA-7 specifies to cite Bibles in “book formats” (p. 302) that are “treated as having no author.” Below are some examples of the hard copy references versus online references of some common versions. The citations are the same for both, as they contain the version name and the year(s) of publication. If you are using a different version, you will format it by following the examples given below (be sure to include a hanging indent, which this webpage cannot feature).
- When including a verse, place it in the locator position after the year (in place of the page number).
- Narrative citation: King James Bible (1769/2017)
- Parenthetical citation: (King James Bible, 1769/2017, Song of Solomon 8:6)
- Reference entry: King James Bible. (2017). King James Bible Online. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/ (Original work published 1769)
In-text citation Reference
| King James | (King James Bible, 1769/2017). (King James Bible, 1769/2017, John 3:16). | King James Bible. (2017). Cambridge University Press. (Original work published 1769) King James Bible. (2017). King James Bible Online. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/ (Original work published 1769) |
| New International | (New International Version, 1978/2011) | New International Version Bible. (2011). Zondervan. (Original work published 1978) New International Version Bible. (2011). The NIV Bible. https://www.thenivbible.com/ (Original work published 1978) |
| New American | (New American Standard Version Bible, 1971/1995) | New American Standard Version Bible. (1995). Thomas Nelson. (Original work published 1971) New American Standard Version Bible. (1995). New American Standard Bible. https://nasb.literalword.com/ (Original work published 1971) |
| The Message | (The Message Bible, 2002) | The Message Bible. (2002). Eugene H. Peterson. The Message Bible. (2002). The Message Bible Online. https://messagebible.com/read-the-message/ |
| English Standard | (English Standard Version Bible, 2001) | English Standard Version Bible. (2001). Crossway Bibles. English Standard Version Bible. (2001). ESV Online. https://esv.literalword.com/ |
