Writing a Christian book requires wisdom. It’s important to handle the Bible carefully and quote it accurately. You also want to avoid copyright problems. So, if you have a Christian book that’s ready for publication, you may be wondering whether you need permission to quote the Bible in your book.
No, You Don’t Need Permission to Quote the Bible
Most of the time, you don’t need to get permission from Zondervan, Thomas Nelson, or other Bible-publishing companies to quote the Bible in your Christian book. You can use a verse here or there without any copyright issues.
That said, you’ll still want to cite your sources when quoting Scripture. That includes the following:
- What you’re quoting. Name the book, chapter, and verse(s).
- What version you’re quoting. It’s nice to state whether you’re using the King James Version (KJV), New International Version (NIV), English Standard Version (ESV), etc. An easy way is to abbreviate the version at the end of the citation.
As long as you do this, you probably won’t get into any trouble. The folks who publish Bibles want you to quote from their translations, so quote away. Just give them credit for their work.
Sometimes, You Need Permission to Quote the Bible
While you usually don’t need permission to quote the Bible, sometimes you do.
When do you need written permission for quoting the Bible? Every translation has different regulations, but in general, you can quote a Bible translation as you wish. Just make sure to stay within these limitations. (Be sure to check regulations for the specific translation you quote in your book, as they may be different.)
- Include no more than 500 verses in your entire manuscript.
- Don’t quote every verse in a single book of the Bible (you can’t republish an entire book of the Bible without permission).
- Make sure the quoted verses take up no more than twenty percent of your text.
For most books, these regulations are easy to follow, but not always. If your book breaks any of the rules above, reach out to the publisher that produces the translation you used and request permission. Most Bible-producing companies make it easy to request permission, so don’t be shy.
Of course, if you don’t hear back from a publisher, that doesn’t mean you have permission. It means you need to either adjust your manuscript to fit the publisher’s guidelines or keep waiting.
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