Sacred text (MLA)

MLA-78

In-text citation

Consider the words of Solomon: “If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink” (Oxford Annotated Bible, Prov. 25.21).

Explain

  • When citing a sacred text such as the Bible or the Qur’an, in your parenthetical citation give the book, chapter, and verse (or their equivalent), separated with periods.
  • Common abbreviations for books of the Bible are acceptable.
  • In your works cited entry, you will name the edition you are using (and you do not need to name it in the in-text citation).
  • The title of a sacred work is italicized when it refers to a specific edition of the work (as in the example).
  • If you refer to the book in a general sense in your text, neither italicize it nor put it in quotation marks.

The Bible and the Qur’an provide allegories that help readers understand how to lead a moral life.

Works cited entry

The Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha. Edited by Herbert G. May and Bruce M. Metzger, Revised Standard Version, Oxford UP, 1965.

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Sacred text