Style and Formatting
(The following information is taken from NCC’s “Policies and Guidelines for Licensees.”)
All editions of the Bible published, reproduced, and distributed must be faithful to the text of the NRSVue and the manner of its presentation as determined by NCC. The NCC has two general style and formatting principles: (i) to maintain the text of the NRSVue in its integrity and (ii) to maintain the clear readable setup of the NRSVue without cluttering the text with unnecessary indicators of one sort or another. In light of these principles, the NCC has adopted the following style and formatting requirements for Licensees. Where an item is indicated as being a “Licensee item,” Licensee may propose an approach; however, all style and formatting decisions are subject to the approval of NCC.
- A. Text, notes, and footnotes. Text, notes, and footnotes are an essential part of the NRSVue Bible file and are to be maintained in their integrity. This includes the maintenance of (a) title pages, (b) “To The Reader,” and “Preface to the NRSVue,” (c) the titles of the various books, (d) the list of abbreviations for the notes; and (e) footnotes. Footnotes must use the entire alphabet before beginning over with “a.” Footnotes must be recycled at each new book, and each new book must begin with the first footnote marked “a.”
- B. Errata. Errata are required to be incorporated in all new text when used for reprinting and in new products. NCC will use best practices to inform and report to Licensees errors and corrections made to the NRSVue Bible file.
- C. Typography Policy. Licensee must observe the following:
- 1. Paragraphing as determined by the Bible Translation and Utilization Advisory Committee (BTU) is to be retained. Verse-by-verse paragraphing such as the King James Version uses is not to be used in the NRSVue. The extra line of space that separates certain main poetry (as in Psalm 51) or separates certain main divisions in prose (as in Mark 1.15 and 1.16) is to be retained. Where the beginning of a new chapter occurs in the middle of a paragraph (as Mark 9), the practice of the NRSVue is to follow as in Mark 9 of the RSV/NRSV.
- 2. Only Arabic numerals are to be used. The only exceptions may be for the numbering of the prefatory pages and for the designations of the five Books into which the Psalms are divided.
- 3. The practice in biblical references is to use a single dot or point, similar to a decimal point between the chapter number and the verse number.
- 4. Verse numbers in the text must be small superscript numbers. The verse number introducing a new paragraph of prose should be larger and not without a verse number (because the chapter number stands there), except when the new chapter begins in the middle of the line (see paragraph (a) above). Since, however, the number of each Psalm is placed as a heading to the Psalm, the first verse of a Psalm is identified with a small superscript number “1”.
- 5. No superscripts, other than the verse numbers and the alphabetical indices for the notes, may be inserted in the text, except in special editions and with the approval of NCC.
- 6. The punctuation of the NRSVue is to be retained. If any question arises concerning the worth or validity of a particular punctuation point in a particular context, the licensee shall consult with NCC.
- 7. In the use of capital letters, the distinction in the Old Testament between “Lord” and “Lord” (i.e., with initial capital and three small capital letters) and between “God” and “God” (i.e., with initial capital and two small capital letters) is to be maintained, as in the copy provided by the NCC to the Licensee. Notice that when Lord is in the possessive form, the final “s” is not a small capital.
- 8. Except for the rules stated in (2) and (3) above, the abbreviations and punctuation of biblical references are within the Licensee’s discretion, in accordance with Paragraph 3 below. It is not necessary to follow the list of abbreviations for the books of the Bible that appear in the prefatory material, nor is it necessary that the last letter of the abbreviations used for the books of the Bible in the list of references mentioned in Paragraph 3 below above be followed by a period.
- D. British Spelling. For editions that NCC authorizes for circulation in Great Britain and the Commonwealth, British-English spellings may be used.
- E. References. References are a Licensee item. The NCC does not regard the list of references in the current editions of the NRSVue as part of the text. Licensees may omit the list of references currently in use or propose an alternative list.
- F. Annotations. Annotations, if any, are a Licensee item. These annotations, however, are not to be mingled or confused with the notes for which the BTU is responsible.
- G. Pronunciation. Pronunciation is a Licensee item. The NCC urges that any scheme for indicating pronunciation be kept as simple and unobtrusive as possible.
- H. Section or Chapter Headings. If the Licensee wishes to have section or chapter headings, the NCC urges the Licensee to retain those presented in the NRSVue. However, this is an optional feature of the NRSVue. If the Licensee elects to use an alternative set of Section or Chapter Headings, a reference to this item and its origins must be displayed and presented in the credits of the publication. Running heads at the top of the page, however, are the responsibility of the Licensee.
- I. Type face. Type face is a Licensee item, with the proviso that the alternative reading in the notes is to be in italics, and that the section and chapter headings are to be differentiated from the type used for the Scripture text itself. It should be noted that about half of the total number of the Psalms are provided with headings that have been traditionally part of the Scripture text and that are customarily set in a smaller typeface. When the BTU’s set of headings is used, these should stand immediately following the centered identification of the number of the Psalm and preceding the heading that is part of the traditional text of the Psalms. The NRSVue follows the usage in italicizing the word “Selah” as used sporadically in the Psalms.
- J. Center Column. A center column, if any, is a Licensee item. It may be used for references or annotations. The footnotes, however, should be placed at the foot of the page.
- K. Binding. Binding is a Licensee item.
Labeling and Ordering
(The following information is taken from NCC’s “Policies and Guidelines for Licensees.”)
The NCC uses the NRSVue to demonstrate its ecumenical spirit and interfaith values through the endorsement of the following policies.
- 1. Publishers using the NCC copyrighted materials for producing works as a Jewish text are provided the following labeling options:
- a. Tanakh
- b. Hebrew Scriptures or Hebrew Bible
- It is assumed that these works will adhere to the book order of the Jewish canon: Torah (Genesis— Deuteronomy), Nevi’im (former Prophets—Joshua to Kings—and latter Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings).
- 2. Publishers using the NCC copyrighted materials for producing works as a Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant text are provided the following labeling options:
- a. Old Testament/New Testament
- b. First Testament/Second Testament
- c. Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books of the Old Testament
- Publishers producing works for Catholic and Orthodox communities are permitted to order Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical books in sequences used and preferred for their specific Catholic and Orthodox religious traditions.
The NCC encourages these choices and distinctions because they represent unique identities even as these religious traditions share a common heritage.
Front Matter
(The following information is taken from NCC’s “Policies and Guidelines for Licensees.”)
The NRSVue “To The Reader,” and “Preface to the NRSVue” are two statements, both of which must be part of every NRSVue work produced for dissemination in any form: print, or digital or, by any other means used now or developed in the future.
Copyright
The following copyright notice is authorized for use with the NRSVue and is included in the front matter of the download files:
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, copyright © 2021 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Logos
Two variations of the NRSVue logo are included in the download files, in both .jpg and .tif file formats. Licensees may choose to use these as they see fit.
Run-In Chapters
(The following information correlates to item C.1. in the section “Style and Formatting” above.)
For printed editions of the NRSVue, there are twenty-nine Bible chapters in which the opening text of the chapter should run in to the last paragraph of the preceding chapter. These chapters are the following:
- Numbers 23
- Deuteronomy 2 (remove the continuing opening double quotation mark at the beginning of Deut 2.1 when running in the paragraph)
- 1 Samuel 4
- 1 Samuel 7
- 1 Samuel 10
- 1 Samuel 14
- 2 Samuel 12
- 2 Kings 7
- 2 Kings 25
- 1 Chronicles 22
- Nehemiah 8
- Esther 7
- Daniel 11 (remove the continuing opening double quotation mark at the beginning of Dan 11.1 when running in the paragraph)
- Tobit 6
- Judith 16
- Esther (Greek) 7
- 4 Maccabees 3
- Matthew 9
- Mark 9
- John 8
- Acts 8
- 1 Corinthians 11
- 2 Corinthians 2
- Galatians 5
- Ephesians 5
- Philippians 4
- Colossians 4
- 1 John 3
- Revelation 13
In these chapters, the first verse number is retained (in addition to the chapter number).
In digital products, treatment of these instances is left to the discretion of the licensee. The most common treatment in digital environments (and Scribe’s default treatment) is to retain the chapter number as a separate heading, making it more difficult to run these paragraphs into the preceding chapter.
Right-Aligned Text
In the books of Psalms and Habakkuk, extra space has been placed by default before the word Selah to make it distinct from the other text in the line. Licensees may wish to take extra measures to make Selah render flush-right.
Joshua 12.9–24 is formatted as a table so that the word one remains distinct from the other text on the line. As above, licensees may wish to take extra measures to make those instances align correctly.
Footnotes and Cross-References
Footnote sigla (style “fnref,” “fnnum”) are iterated alphabetically by Bible book. They use the entire alphabet before beginning again with “a,” and they restart the cycle at each new book with “a,” according to licensee guidelines.
Cross-reference sigla (style “enref,” “ennum”) are asterisks in the ScML and HTML files, and are included to aid in internal hyperlinking for electronic products. The DOCX and IDTT files do not contain cross-reference sigla within the scripture text; the expectation is that the chapter-verse citations at the beginning of the cross-reference notes provide sufficient identifying information for printed editions.
The sections containing footnotes and cross-references appear directly following the Bible book to which they correspond.
The chapter-verse citations at the beginning of the notes (“bcv” style) may be retained or removed at the licensee’s discretion.
Verse Numbers
(The following information correlates to item C.4. in the section “Style and Formatting” above.)
Verse numbers at the start of poetry or list lines use the “ver” style and should be superscript as per licensee guidelines. (The same is true for verse numbers at the start of prose paragraphs using the style “pcon,” which are a continuation of poetry and list lines.)
Verse numbers at the start of new prose paragraphs use the “ver-f” style and should not be superscript as per licensee guidelines.
Poetry Spacing
Lines of poetry should not render with extra line spacing above or below unless specifically signified by ScML “sl” styles with first or last variations (e.g., “slf,” “sl1l”), as per licensee guidelines. When lines of poetry with first or last style variations do appear, those paragraphs must render with extra line spacing above or below.
Hyphenation
The Bible contains many names for which a typesetting program may not have correct hyphenation settings. See Scribe’s Bible Hyphenation list for guidance on how certain words should hyphenate. IDTT files downloaded from this website also include a hyphenation dictionary that can be loaded into InDesign.
Duplicate Footnotes
Treatment of duplicate footnotes is left to the discretion of the licensee. This is often more of a concern in printed editions, in which the most common preference is to prevent a footnote from appearing more than once on a given page. In digital environments, in which there are not any explicit “pages,” it is recommended that licensees maintain one-to-one correspondence between the in-text sigla and the notes themselves.
When making the effort to eliminate duplicate footnotes in printed editions, it is important to take into account the re-lettering of the alphabetical note sigla as well as corresponding adjustments to the chapter-verse citations at the beginning of the footnote (if those are being retained). See Scribe’s Deduping Procedure for some tips to help this process go more smoothly. If you require assistance with this process, Scribe can help; please contact bibles@scribenet.com.
In the NRSVue, there are 290 instances in which duplicate footnotes appear consecutively. Each instance of these duplicate notes has been retained by default, and it is left to the discretion of the licensee whether or not to retain each instance in a final product. The list of duplicate footnotes is available here for download as a Microsoft Word DOCX file.
NRSVue Duplicate Footnotes
Word, Character, and Note Totals
Word, character, and note totals are available here for download in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. Included are totals for the full Bible text as well as breakdowns for front matter, back matter, Old Testament, Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books, New Testament, footnotes, and cross-references.
NRSVue Word, Character, and Note Totals
Scribe’s Bible QC Checklist
See Scribe’s Bible QC checklist for aspects to review in all Bible designs and typesets.