MLA Bible citations name the edition, book, chapter, and verse, then match that wording in your Works Cited entry.
Bible passages show up in essays from literature to history to ethics. The hard part is not the verse itself. It’s the format. MLA treats scripture a bit differently than a regular book with page numbers, so students often guess and end up with a citation that looks half-right.
This guide gives you a clean pattern you can reuse. You’ll see what goes in your Works Cited, what goes in the parentheses, and how to handle print Bibles, online Bibles, and apps. You’ll also get a short checklist at the end so you can proof your paper in one pass.
How To Cite A Bible In MLA For Essays And Papers
MLA asks you to be clear about two things: which Bible you used, and where the passage lives inside it. “Where” means book, chapter, and verse. Since verse numbers already act like a locator, MLA uses them in place of page numbers in your in-text citation.
Plan to do two citations that work as a pair:
- Works Cited entry: identifies the Bible edition or translation you used.
- In-text citation: points to the passage by book, chapter, and verse.
If you keep those roles separate, the rest gets simpler.
What details to gather before you write anything
Grab your Bible and collect the facts once. It saves time later, and it keeps your wording consistent across your paper.
- Full title as printed: It may be “The Holy Bible” or a named edition such as The New Oxford Annotated Bible.
- Version or translation: NIV, NRSV, KJV, ESV, and so on.
- Editor or translator: Some editions list one on the title page.
- Edition number: “3rd ed.” shows up on many study Bibles.
- Publisher and year: Use the title page and copyright page for print editions.
- URL and access date: Only for online Bibles you read on a site or in an app with a share link.
Next, decide how you accessed the text. Print, website, e-book, and app citations share the same spine, but the “container” details differ.
Works Cited entry for a print Bible
Start with the title of the Bible edition you used. Italicize it. After that, list the version, then the publisher, then the year. If your edition lists an editor or translator, include that person as an “other contributor.” MLA Style Center’s note on scriptural writings uses the same idea: treat the published Bible edition like any other book edition. MLA Style Center guidance on scriptural writings
Use this template:
- Title of Bible. Version, Publisher, Year.
Sample Works Cited entries:
- The Bible. Authorized King James Version, Oxford UP, 1998.
- The New Oxford Annotated Bible. New Revised Standard Version, 5th ed., edited by Michael D. Coogan, Oxford UP, 2018.
Match the edition name you use here with the title you put in your first in-text citation. That one match is what lets a reader jump from your quote to the right Bible on your Works Cited page.
In-text citation for a Bible verse
In MLA, the first in-text citation usually carries the Bible title (or a short version of it) plus the book, chapter, and verse. After that, you can drop the title and cite just book, chapter, and verse, as long as you stay with the same Bible edition for the rest of the paper.
Use periods between chapter and verse. Use a dash for a verse range.
- First time: (Title of Bible Book Chapter.Verse)
- Later: (Book Chapter.Verse)
Examples you can copy:
- First time: (The New Oxford Annotated Bible Gen. 1.26–27)
- Later: (Gen. 2.15)
- Verse range: (Matt. 5.3–10)
Keep the book abbreviation consistent. Purdue OWL’s MLA pages use standard abbreviations like “Gen.” and “Matt.” and show Bible entries on the Works Cited page in the same pattern. Purdue OWL on MLA Works Cited book entries
How to quote scripture inside your sentences
You can quote a verse like you quote any other source. Put the quoted words in quotation marks, integrate them into your sentence, then place the in-text citation right after the quote.
Two small style moves keep your paper tidy:
- Put the punctuation after the closing parenthesis, not before it.
- If the verse ends with a period in your Bible, keep your sentence punctuation consistent with your own grammar.
Sample sentence:
Paul links love with patience and kindness, calling it “not rude” and “not self-seeking” (1 Cor. 13.4–5).
If you name the book in your own sentence, you can still keep the citation in parentheses. Just don’t repeat the book name twice.
Common MLA Bible citation cases
Most confusion comes from small format changes: online access, multiple versions, or passages that do not fit the usual chapter-verse pattern. The table below gives you a quick way to pick the right shape before you type.
| Case | Works Cited pattern | In-text pattern |
|---|---|---|
| Print Bible, one translation | Title. Version, Publisher, Year. | (Title Book Chapter.Verse) |
| Study Bible with an editor | Title. Version, ed., edited by Name, Publisher, Year. | (Title Book Chapter.Verse) |
| Online Bible on a website | Title. Version, Site Name, URL. Accessed Day Mon. Year. | (Title Book Chapter.Verse) |
| Bible app with one translation | Title. Version, App Name, URL or publisher details. Accessed Day Mon. Year. | (Title Book Chapter.Verse) |
| Bible app with multiple translations used | Create a Works Cited entry for each version you cite. | (Version Abbrev. Book Chapter.Verse) |
| Quoting Psalms by line numbers | Same as your Bible edition entry. | (Ps. 23.1–2) or (Ps. 23.1, line 4) |
| Multiple passages in one citation | Same as your Bible edition entry. | (John 1.1; Rom. 8.1–2) |
| Same passage, two translations for comparison | Works Cited entries for both versions. | (NIV John 1.1) and (NRSV John 1.1) |
Citing an online Bible without making a mess of URLs
If you read the Bible on a website, your Works Cited entry needs the site container and the URL. Many students paste a long tracking link. Skip that. Use the clean page URL that the site provides, or the shortest stable link you can copy from the address bar.
Use this pattern:
- Title of Bible. Version, Name of Website, URL. Accessed Day Mon. Year.
In the text, cite the passage the same way you would for print: book, chapter, verse. The URL stays in Works Cited, not in the parentheses.
What to do when your paper uses more than one Bible
Sometimes your assignment asks you to compare translations. In that case, you can’t drop the version after the first citation, because the reader needs to know which wording you mean each time you quote.
Two clean options work well:
- Option A: Keep the Bible title in each citation and shorten it to a clear label after the first use.
- Option B: Use the version abbreviation in every citation, like (NIV John 1.1).
Whichever option you pick, make matching Works Cited entries for each Bible version you quote. Keep the titles distinct so the reader can tell them apart at a glance.
Book names, abbreviations, and punctuation that trip people up
Most MLA Bible errors come from tiny punctuation slips. Fix these and your citations read like you know what you’re doing.
- Chapter and verse: Use a period, not a colon: John 3.16.
- Verse ranges: Use an en dash: John 3.16–18.
- Multiple passages: Separate each passage with a semicolon.
- Book abbreviations: Use standard shortened forms with periods: “Matt.” “Gen.” “1 Cor.”
If you write the full book name in your sentence, keep the citation short. If you do not name it in the sentence, place the abbreviation inside the parentheses. Either way is fine. Consistency is what your instructor sees first.
Mini reference table for fast proofreading
Use this table near the end of your draft. It catches the most common formatting misses before you hit submit.
| Check | What to look for | Fix if needed |
|---|---|---|
| Edition named | Works Cited lists the version or translation | Add “NIV,” “NRSV,” “KJV,” or the edition label |
| Title matches first citation | First parenthetical uses the same Bible title | Align wording so both point to one entry |
| Chapter.verse format | Periods, not colons | Change 3:16 to 3.16 |
| Ranges and lists | En dash for ranges; semicolon between passages | Swap hyphen use; add semicolons |
| Book abbreviation | Short form with period where needed | Change “Matthew” in parentheses to “Matt.” |
| Punctuation placement | Sentence punctuation after the citation | Move period to after the closing parenthesis |
| Same Bible all paper | Later citations omit the title only when one edition is used | Keep the version label if you switch editions |
Short checklist to finish your Works Cited page
Before you call it done, run this final pass. It keeps your Works Cited entries uniform, even if you cited other books and websites in the same paper.
- Alphabetize the Bible entry by its title, just like any other book entry.
- Italicize the Bible title in Works Cited.
- Use the version name right after the title when the title alone is not enough.
- Add editor or translator details only when your edition lists them.
- For online Bibles, include the site name and a clean URL, plus an access date.
- Scan your in-text citations to confirm they use book, chapter, and verse with periods.
Once those boxes are checked, your MLA Bible citations should read cleanly and match the rest of your paper’s MLA style.
References & Sources
- MLA Style Center.“How Do I Cite Scriptural Writings?”Explains how MLA treats published scripture editions and what details belong in Works Cited entries.
- Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL).“MLA Works Cited Page: Books.”Shows MLA 9 book entry patterns and includes sample Bible entries and in-text cues.