How to Look up a Bible Verse

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People quote the Bible in a variety of contexts. If you want to be able to look those quotes up, you’ll need to understand the way the Bible is organized. It’s also possible to look up quotes without knowing their location. Simply knowing a couple of words from a verse can be enough to help you locate it if you know how.

Method 1
Method 1 of 3:

Looking up a Verse by Number

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  1. When Bible verses are listed, the first thing you’ll see is the name of a book. Use the table of contents in your Bible to locate that book within it. The table of contents is at the beginning of the Bible. Locate the name in the table of contents and turn to the page associated with the start of the book. The name of the book might be abbreviated or spelled out completely. Some books include:
    • Exodus (Ex)
    • Genesis (Gen)
    • Numbers (Num)
  2. After the book name, you’ll see two numbers. The first number is the chapter. For example, in “John 3:16”, “3” is the chapter number. Look at the verse and determine which chapter it is from in the book.
    • Some people may cite Bible verse using abbreviations and Roman numerals. For example, Lev. xx:13 is the same as Leviticus, chapter 20, verse 13.
    • Locate that chapter within the book. You may be able to find the location of that chapter in the table of contents. If not, you can thumb through the specific book until you see that chapter.
    • As with other books, it should clearly say, “Chapter __” at the beginning of each chapter.
    • In addition, many versions clearly say, <Book name> <Chapter>:<Verse> at the top of each page indicating the first verse on that page. Some also note the last verse on the page.
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  3. The second number after the book name is the verse number. This number should come after a colon (:). In the case of John 3:16, 16 would be the verse number.
    • If you're looking up a longer passage, there may be two numbers, separated by a hyphen (-). For example, in John 3:16-18, you're looking for verses 16,17, and 18.
  4. Once you’ve found the chapter, go through it until you find the verse. The verses go in numerical order, just like chapters. There should be a small number at the beginning of each sentence or a small group of sentences. This is the verse number. If you're looking for multiple verses, such as John 3:16-18, 17 and 18 would follow directly after 16.
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Method 2
Method 2 of 3:

Looking up a Verse with a Concordance

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  1. A concordance is a book that lists every instance of a word’s appearance in the Bible. This is a great tool if you remember the verse, or part of the verse, but you don’t know which book or chapter it came from. [1]
    • Concordances can be found through religious retailers or online. Your church may also have one that you can borrow.
  2. Remember an important word from the verse. Look it up in the concordance the same way that you would look it up in a dictionary. Concordances are alphabetized. [2]
    • Choose a distinctive word that may have limited occurrences, such as “flood,” “mountain,” or “rubies.” If you choose something like “love” or “evil” you’re likely to find an enormous number of results.
  3. If you find too many results, or you don’t see the verse you’re looking for, try searching for another word. For example, if you remember the phrase, “love must be sincere” and you searched “love” but found too many results, try looking up, “sincere.” [3]
  4. The concordance will list all of the places where that word is found in the Bible. A complete concordance will give you some context so that you can be sure it’s the verse you’re looking for.
    • Use the location that the concordance gives you (for example, Romans 12:9) to look up the complete verse and its context in your bible.
  5. Concordances are specific to translations. If you can’t find the verse you’re looking for, try a concordance for a different translation. For example, if your Bible translated a word to the English word “praise," but your concordance is for a Bible that translated that word as “worship,” it will be impossible to look up the verse. [4]
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Method 3
Method 3 of 3:

Looking up a Verse Online

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  1. Choose a search engine, or go to a website dedicated to Bible study. Type the name of the book and the chapter and verse numbers into the search engine.
    • Type the verse number in the generally accepted format if you can. For example, you'll get more accurate results if you type, "John 3:16," than, "Chapter 3 16 John."
  2. Do you remember a certain phrase of the verse? Maybe you remember one or two words and the name of the book it came from. Even if you can’t remember very much, you can likely still look up the verse. [5]
  3. Type in everything you can remember. You should also include the words “Bible” and “verse” to make sure that you get results that are relevant to your search. [6]
    • Your search terms may be something like, “Bible verse about wives in Psalms,” or “Bible verse chapter 7 desert.”
  4. There are plenty of sites online that catalog Bible verses by subject or by book. You can use one of these websites to search for the verse. Type in a keyword or a subject. You may also be able to do an advanced search by book or chapter. [7]
    • These online tools can be great ways to find other verses that may be relevant to you or helpful in your studies or prayers.
  5. If you can’t remember any exact words from the verse, or your search is not going well, search related words. For example, if you searched for “stars” and didn’t find anything, you could search for “night” or “sky” or “heavens” to see if the verse shows up. It’s possible you’re using a different translation or that you misremembered details about the verse. [8]
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Expert Q&A

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  • Question
    Are there any other ways of looking up a bible verse?
    Mark Russell
    Christian Theology Expert
    Mark Russell is a Christian Theology Expert based in Bourbonnais, Illinois. He is a Senior High School Youth Pastor at Gathering Point Church of the Nazarene, and has held this post for over nine years. He is the director of the Next Gen programs at the church, managing all youth education programs. Through this role, he also leads a team of adult youth leaders and completes preaching duties. Prior to working at Gathering Point, he worked as Assistant Principal at Grove City Christian School and was a Youth Pastor at Grove City Church of the Nazarene. He received a BA in Elementary Education and Teaching from Mount Vernon Nazarene University.
    Mark Russell
    Christian Theology Expert
    Expert Answer
    Along with traditional printed Bibles and online websites, there are many tools that can be used digitally for studying scriptures. The Bible app is one such convenient smartphone platform that offers a great variety of translations and plans for Bible study. Other excellent online resources include Bible Gateway and Blue Letter Bible, which provide access to different translations, commentaries, and Bible passages. These digital tools and apps indeed make access to and understanding of the Bible easier than ever.
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  • Question
    What are the bible verse search engines?
    Community Answer
    You can use biblegateway.com or blbclassic.org.
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  • Question
    Where can I find a quotation from the Book of Genesis that starts with, "Go ye into the world and multiply."
    Community Answer
    My Bible (NIV) says: "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." (Genesis 1:28).
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      Tips

      • Sometimes an author may want to direct your attention to only a portion of a Bible verse. In this case they would use a letter to indicate which section of a verse would be appropriate:
        • If they use “a” (such as “John 3:16a”) then they want to draw your attention to the early part of the verse: “For God so loved the world …”
        • If they use “b” (such as “John 3:16b”) then they want to draw your attention to the latter part, or maybe even another section of that verse: “… that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
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      • If you know a sentence from scripture and can't recall the book, chapter or verse, you can type the sentence you remember on Google and it would give you the passage where to find it. Most of the things Jesus said can be found in the for books of the gospel. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. So you might find a couple verses quoting the same verses. Ex: "The parable of the sower" can be found in Matthew 13:1-23, Mark 4:1-20, and Luke 8:1-15. Also, the books on the new testament quote other books from the bible. Ex. Romans 9:27 quotes Isaiah 10:22,23.
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      Expert Interview

      Thanks for reading our article! If you’d like to learn more about christianity, check out our in-depth interview with Mark Russell .

      References

      1. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UJ7Kr0B6mI
      2. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UJ7Kr0B6mI
      3. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UJ7Kr0B6mI
      4. ↑ http://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-concordance.html
      5. ↑ http://www.freebiblestudyguides.org/bible-hope/how-can-find-things-in-the-bible.htm
      6. ↑ http://www.freebiblestudyguides.org/bible-hope/how-can-find-things-in-the-bible.htm
      7. ↑ https://www.biblegateway.com/
      8. ↑ http://www.freebiblestudyguides.org/bible-hope/how-can-find-things-in-the-bible.htm

      About This Article

      Article Summary X

      To look up a bible verse, use your bible’s table of contents to find the book that contains the verse you’re looking for. Turn to the page the book starts on and look for the chapter number, which will be listed in numerals. Once you find the chapter, identify the verse number, which will also be in numerals. If you don’t have a bible handy, go online and enter the name of the book, chapter, and verse numbers into a search engine. If you don’t remember the verse number, enter in the terms “bible verse,” followed by a description, like “wives in Psalms.” You can also use a website designated for bible searches, where you can look up a verse simply by typing in a keyword or subject. To learn more, like how to use a concordance to look up a bible verse, read on!

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