When writing about the Bible, capitalize Holy Bible, Scriptures, Gospels, Old Testament and New Testament without quotation marks, according to Associated Press guidelines. Avoid abbreviations for books of the Bible, and use numerals to signify books such as 1 John or 2 Chronicles. When citing specific Scriptures, do not include spaces between the colon after the chapter and before the verse. Cite a Scripture reference with book, chapter and verse and the version of the Bible used; such as John 1:1-5 (New Century Version). Capitalize God and the titles for God or Jesus; such Father God, the Son of God, Holy Spirit, Redeemer or Lamb of God. Lowercase pronouns such as he or thee that refer to God or Jesus.
When using Chicago or Turabian style, don't use abbreviations, underlining or italics for the title of a Bible book in the body of your writing. Abbreviate the Bible book in footnotes, endnotes or parenthetical citations with a colon separating chapter and verse. Add the translation, spelled out in the first instance but abbreviated in following passages; such as Mat. 12:1-8 (Amplified Bible) and Jn 1:1 AB. Notice that there is no punctuation separating the translation. Don't repeat the translation if it remains the same throughout the paper. See Resources for a list of accepted abbreviations.
Guidelines published in the "Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association" require that you identify the Bible translation the first time you use a particular translation and only identify the translation again if you change to a different one. Parenthetical citations use a colon between the chapter and verse, such as "Mark 2:4 New Century Version." If you include the reference in a sentence, list the book, chapter and verse with the version in parenthesis, i.e.: "In Genesis 1:1 (Amplified Bible), God..." The Bible does not need to be included on your reference page unless required by a course instructor.
You do not need to italicize, underline or place individual Bible books or translations in quotes, according to the Modern Language Association. The "MLA Handbook for Research Papers" says to place published editions of the Bible in italics or underline the title. When parenthetically citing individual books of the Bible, abbreviate the book and separate the chapter and verse with a period; such as "Deut. 14.10." Your first reference includes the translation, followed by a comma and the reference and passage; such as "New Century Version, Josh. 16.5-10." In all following citations, include the version only if you change translations. In reference citations, include the title of the Bible in italics and translation and publication information in plain text.