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Turabian Writing Guide: Citing the Bible

This research guide provides a brief introduction to Turabian 9th edition.

Writing Center

The Liberty University Writing Center is available to provide writing coaching to students. Residential students should contact the On-Campus Writing Center for assistance. Online students should contact the Online Writing Center for assistance.

Citing the Bible

Scripture Citations

As a sacred work, the Bible will not be included in your bibliography. All Bible verses will be mentioned parenthetically only. Rather than footnoting the first instance (and including “unless otherwise noted”) as in previous versions of Turabian, the version of the Bible being used will be noted in parentheses, spelled out, after the first Bible citation. The version will not be mentioned again unless version is changed. If only one version is used in a paper, then the version will only be spelled out fully in that first citation. If the student uses more than one version, however, the first instance of each Bible version will be spelled out fully, and then its abbreviation must be used as necessary for the reader to discern which version is being referenced.