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Community Covenant Church How to Find Bible Verses for Myself |
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Community Covenant Church Home Becoming a Child of God About Us Services Pastor's Poetry Trip to Bulgaria Phones Directions How to Find Bible Verses Links |
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Format of Bible References Bible References are also called Scripture References. We will give our Scripture References in parentheses. Here is an example taken from our "Becoming a Child of God" webpage. (John 1:10-12, NIV). "John" is the name of a book in the Bible. The Bible is a big book made up of 66 smaller books, and "John" is one of those 66 smaller books. Bibles have a table of contents near the front. You can look there to see what page the book of "John" starts on. "1:10-12" means chapter 1, verses 10-12. The particular Bible translation which was quoted is the NIV, meaning the New International Version. So (John 1:10-12, NIV) means the book of John, chapter 1, verses 10-12, using the NIV or New International Version. Similarly, (John 3:18-19, NIV) means the book of John, chapter 3, verses 18-19, using the NIV or New International Version. Sometimes a Scripture Reference only refers to one verse. For example (John 3:16, NIV) means the book of John, chapter 3, verse 16, using the NIV or New International Version. The chapters in a Bible are usually all numbered. Even the verses within each chapter are usually all numbered. A short list of some English Bible Translations
Bonus Topic 1 for Intellectuals: Testaments and Books The Bible is split into two large parts. The Old Testament contains the first 39 books of the Bible, and the New Testament contains the last 27 books of the Bible. 39 + 27 = 66, the number of books in the whole Bible. So the Bible is a large book made up of 66 smaller books. The Old Testament is the time before Jesus was born on earth as a man. The New Testament is the time after Jesus was born on earth as a man. So the New Testament includes the time that Jesus was on the earth with his disciples. The New Testament also includes the time right now. In addition to whole Bibles, book stores often sell New Testaments and other shortened versions of the Bible. So what should you do if you can't find a smaller book within the larger book of the Bible? First, check if your Bible is only a New Testament. Maybe the Old Testament is not in the Bible you have. New Testaments usually say "New Testament" on the cover. If you're still not sure why you can't find a book, turn to the Table of Contents and count how many books there are. There should be 66 smaller books in a whole Bible. Bonus Topic 2 for Intellectuals: Gospels The first 4 books of the New Testament are histories of Jesus' life here on earth. In order, these books are: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These 4 books are given a special name: the gospels. So the gospel of Matthew is the same as the book of Matthew, the gospel of John is the same as the book of John, etc. None of the other Bible books are also called gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are the only gospels. Bonus Topic 3 for Intellectuals: Letters a and b Sometimes you may see letters in with the numbers when a Bible verse is quoted. Let us consider (Romans 6:23a) for example. Notice that the Bible translation was left out of this Bible reference. Often the Bible translation is not specified in a reference. "Romans" is the name of a book in the New Testament part of the Bible. When you look this verse up in a Bible, you should be able to find the book of Romans, chapter 6, and verse 23. However, there won't even be a hint what to do about that "a" in the Bible reference. The "a" just means that they're using the beginning of the Bible verse. So (Romans 6:23a) means the book of Romans, chapter 6, verse 23, and just use the beginning of the verse. Similarly, (Romans 6:23b) means the book of Romans, chapter 6, verse 23, and just use the end of the verse. Unfortunately, the Bible verse will not be marked regarding what part of the verse is the beginning, and what part is the end. You will have to decide that based on the context of whatever you are reading. Bonus Topic 4 for Intellectuals: Missing Numbers Sometimes you may see a reference like (Romans 6) or (Jude 6). The Bible translation was left out of both of these Bible references. That often happens. These references also both appear to be missing their verse numbers. What do they mean? It depends on which book of the Bible is being referred to. You should assume that the number is a chapter, and that no verse number has been given. That will usually be true, and in fact (Romans 6) means the book of Romans, chapter 6. Similarly (Romans 6-8) means the book of Romans, chapters 6-8. However, some books in the Bible are so short that they are not divided into chapters. Those books are only divided into verses. The book of Jude is one of those short books. So (Jude 6) means the book of Jude, verse 6. Similarly (Jude 6-8) means the book of Jude, verses 6-8. In summary, when there is no colon followed by verse numbers in a Scripture Reference, always assume that the number part of the Scripture Reference gives the chapter or chapters, and you will usually be right. If when you look it up there are no chapters, then the number part of the Scripture Reference gives the verse or verses. You definitely know more than enough to start looking up your own Bible verses now. Keep reading bonus material like this on your own and someday you'll be a Bible Scholar. |
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