The first time you cite scripture, indicate which translation you are using in a footnote:
[F]:
1. Col 2:6. All biblical citations in this paper are taken from the New American Bible, rev. ed. (Charlotte, NC: Saint Benedict Press, 2010), unless otherwise noted.
You do not need to repeat the translation version in subsequent references unless you are using more than one translation. You also do not need to cite the Bible in your bibliography unless you are citing editorial content, such as an introduction, which you'd then cite as a book chapter per the Quick Guide to Turabian Style.
While you can place biblical citations in footnotes, you may also place them in the body of your text, for example:
- “The mother of Jesus said to him, 'They have no wine'" (John 2:3).
- Notice the order of the punctuation: the full quote with quotation marks, the citation in parentheses, then the ending period.
- Use single quotation marks for a quote within a quote.
- In the Book of Job, Zophar asks, should "a man full of talk be vindicated?" (Job 11:2).
- If the verse ends in a question mark or exclamation point, put that inside the close quote and a period after the close parenthesis.
- When “book” is used as part of the name, it is written with a capital letter.
- Genesis 1:26 portrays God proclaiming, "Let us make man in our image."
- Spell out the name of a biblical book if it is the first word of a sentence.
- In Gen 1:26, God proclaims, "Let us make us make man in our image."
- Abbreviate book when both chapter and verse follow and it is not the first word in a sentence.
More on formatting biblical citations:
- Do not abbreviate the book when only the chapter is referenced: Genesis 1
- Use a hyphen between the verse numbers within the same chapter or when spanning whole chapters: Gen 1:3-8 or Exodus 8-11
- Use a dash (i.e., 2 hyphens in a row) when spanning chapters and verses: John 7:40—8:20
- Use a comma to refer to subsequent verse numbers in the same chapter: Rom 12:9, 21
- Use semi-colons between different books or different chapters within a book: Gen 1:3; Exod 3:7; 4:10
- The book of the bible is not italicized, and no punctuation follows an abbreviated book.
