PERRLA/Guides/APA 7/Other religious texts

How to Cite the Torah, Bhagavad Gita, and Other Religious Texts in APA 7

In APA 7, a religious text like the Torah, the Bhagavad Gita, or the Book of Mormon has no author. The reference starts with the title of the edition or translation you read in italics, then any translator with Trans., the year, the publisher or website, and the URL if online. Add (Original work published …) when your copy reprints an earlier edition. The in-text citation gives the title, the year, and the text's own numbering: (The Bhagavad Gita, 2008, 2:47).

The format

Title of the Work (A. A. Translator, Trans.). (Year). Publisher or Website Name. URL (Original work published Year)

PERRLA APA Experts · Updated October 21, 2026
Checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition. Every example is formatted by PERRLA's reference engine.

First, the easy way: PERRLA

In PERRLA, choose Religious Work. Typing Torah or Tanakh into the reference search opens the same form. Fill it in from your copy's title page or the website:

  • Contributors: add a translator with the role Translator, or the editors of a study edition with the role Editor. Leave out any author.
  • Title of the Work and, for a named version of a translation, Version. PERRLA joins them with a colon.
  • Publication Year, Edition, the publisher or website, and the URL if you read it online.
  • Original Publication Year: only when your copy reprints an edition that came out earlier.

When you cite a passage, choose Book, chapter, & verse in the citation box. Type the book in Book (Leviticus, Mosiah), or leave it empty for a text numbered by chapter and verse alone, like the Bhagavad Gita, and type the numbers in Chap: Verse.

Not using PERRLA yet? Here is how to build the same reference by hand.

The parts of the reference

1. Title

Religious texts have no author in APA 7, so the title goes first, in italics. Use the title of the exact edition or translation you read, not just the name of the scripture: there are many English Torahs and many Bhagavad Gitas, and their wording differs. Capitalize the first word, the first word after a colon, and proper nouns.

The Book of Mormon: Another testament of Jesus Christ.

A named version of a translation, like the gender-sensitive edition of the JPS Tanakh, goes after the main title and a colon, the way a Bible version does: The JPS Tanakh: Gender-Sensitive Edition.

2. Translator or editors

A translator goes in parentheses right after the title: initials, last name, a comma, and Trans. Use the name as the title page prints it.

(L. L. Patton, Trans.).

A study edition with notes by editors works differently. APA moves the editors to the author position, so the reference starts with their names and (Eds.).

3. Year

Give the year your edition was published, in parentheses, followed by a period. It's on the copyright page of a book. Online, look at the site's notes on the translation it shows. If no date appears anywhere, write (n.d.).

(2008).

4. Publisher or website

For a book, give the publisher or imprint from the title page. For a website, give the site's name and then the URL, with no period after the link. When the website belongs to the same organization that publishes the text, its name still goes here.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

5. Original publication date

When your copy is a newer edition of a text first published in a known year, add (Original work published …) at the end, with no period. The Book of Mormon first appeared in 1830, and the edition on the Church's website today is the 2013 edition.

(Original work published 1830)

For ancient texts, the date of composition is usually unknown or disputed. APA leaves it out in those cases, so a Bhagavad Gita translation takes only its own year. Don't guess a date like ca. 400 B.C.E.

Examples

The Torah or Tanakh on Sefaria

The Jewish Publication Society's 2023 gender-sensitive edition of its Tanakh translation, which Sefaria shows by default for the Hebrew Bible. It's a revision of the 1985 JPS translation, not a reprint, so it takes one year. Cited here for Leviticus 19:18: "Love your fellow as yourself."

  • Parenthetical citation(The JPS Tanakh: Gender-Sensitive Edition, 2023, Leviticus 19:18)
  • Narrative citationThe JPS Tanakh: Gender-Sensitive Edition (2023, Leviticus 19:18)

The Bhagavad Gita in translation

Laurie L. Patton's translation of the Bhagavad Gita for Penguin Classics, cited for chapter 2, verse 47. The Gita's date of composition is disputed, so the reference has no original date. Some bookstores list this book's author as Anonymous: leave that out.

  • Parenthetical citation(The Bhagavad Gita, 2008, 2:47)
  • Narrative citationThe Bhagavad Gita (2008, 2:47)

The Book of Mormon online, with its original date

The 2013 edition of the Book of Mormon on the website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, cited for Mosiah 2:17, "when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." The book was first published in 1830, so both years go in the citation.

  • Parenthetical citation(The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, 1830/2013, Mosiah 2:17)
  • Narrative citationThe Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ (1830/2013, Mosiah 2:17)

In-text citations

An APA 7 in-text citation for a religious text gives the title in italics and title case, the year, and the passage in the text's own numbering. Use that numbering instead of page numbers, because it's the same in every edition.

  • Book, chapter, and verse: (The JPS Tanakh: Gender-Sensitive Edition, 2023, Leviticus 19:18)
  • Chapter and verse only: (The Bhagavad Gita, 2008, 2:47)
  • Two dates: the original year, a slash, then your edition's year: (The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, 1830/2013, Mosiah 2:17)
  • A long title: you can shorten it to its first words in the text, like The Book of Mormon, as long as the reference shows the full title
  • No date: n.d. in place of the year

A narrative citation puts the title in your sentence: In the Bhagavad Gita (2008), Krishna counsels Arjuna to act without attachment to results (2:47).

Other texts follow the same pattern with their own numbering: a Talmud passage by tractate and folio, a Buddhist sutra by its chapter or verse. Writing about a text in general, not quoting an edition? Use plain type, with no italics and no citation.

Common mistakes

  • Vyasa. (2008). The Bhagavad Gita (L. L. Patton, Trans.). Penguin Classics.The Bhagavad Gita (L. L. Patton, Trans.). (2008). Penguin Classics.APA 7 treats religious texts as having no author, even when tradition credits one. The title moves into the author spot.
  • The Bhagavad Gita (L. L. Patton, Trans.). (2008). Penguin Classics. (Original work published ca. 400 B.C.E.)The Bhagavad Gita (L. L. Patton, Trans.). (2008). Penguin Classics.Scholars disagree about when the Gita was composed. APA leaves out an original date that's unknown or disputed.
  • (Torah, Leviticus 19:18)(The JPS Tanakh: Gender-Sensitive Edition, 2023, Leviticus 19:18)Translations of the Torah word the same verse differently. The citation has to name the edition you quoted and its year, and point to a matching reference entry.
  • (The Book of Mormon, 2013, p. 153)(The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, 1830/2013, Mosiah 2:17)Use the book, chapter, and verse, not a page. And a text with (Original work published 1830) in its reference carries both years in the citation, the original first.
  • The Book Of Mormon: Another Testament Of Jesus Christ. (2013).The Book of Mormon: Another testament of Jesus Christ. (2013).Titles take sentence case in the reference list: capitalize the first word, the first word after the colon, and proper nouns. Title case is for the in-text citation.

Quick checklist

  • No author: the title of your edition comes first, in italics
  • A translator in parentheses after the title, with Trans.
  • The year of your edition, or n.d. if none is given
  • The publisher for print, the website's name and URL for online
  • (Original work published …) only for a known earlier edition
  • In the text: title, year, then the text's own numbering

Questions students ask

How do I cite the Torah in APA 7?

Cite the edition or translation you read, like a JPS Tanakh or a Torah commentary, with its title first, the year, and the publisher or website. In the text, give the book, chapter, and verse: (The JPS Tanakh: Gender-Sensitive Edition, 2023, Leviticus 19:18).

What's the difference between citing the Torah and the Tanakh?

The Torah is the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, and the Tanakh is the whole Hebrew Bible. In APA, the title on your edition decides what you write: if you read Leviticus in a complete JPS Tanakh, cite that Tanakh.

Do I need a reference entry for a religious text?

Yes. APA 7 gives religious texts full reference list entries, the same as books and webpages. The older APA 6 rule that let you skip them no longer applies.

How do I cite the Bhagavad Gita by chapter and verse?

Give the chapter and verse numbers joined by a colon after the title and year: (The Bhagavad Gita, 2008, 2:47). APA's own blog writes them out as Chapter 5, Verse 21, which is also correct. Pick one style and use it the whole way through.

How do I cite a religious text with editors' notes?

A study edition with commentary by named editors puts the editors first, with (Eds.), and the in-text citation uses their last names and the year. Use the verse numbers for the scripture itself and the page numbers for the editors' own notes and essays.

Do I italicize the names of religious texts in my paper?

Italicize the title when you cite a specific edition, in the reference and the in-text citation. When you mention a text in general, like "the Torah is read in synagogue every week," use plain type.

Rules checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.), Sections 6.17, 8.14, 8.28, 9.42, and 10.2, the APA Style website's religious work reference examples, and the APA Style blog post on classical and religious works. Example sources verified on Sefaria's version notes and the Jewish Publication Society's page for the 2023 edition, Penguin's product page for the Patton translation, and the Book of Mormon on churchofjesuschrist.org with the Church's notes on its 2013 edition.

PERRLA builds the reference for any religious text from its edition's details and puts the title, the year, and the passage in every citation.

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