Bible Modules

What is a Bible Module?

A Bible Module is a structured document that combines a mixture of text and Scripture citations. The citations can appear in any order, making it a versatile tool for various applications. The purpose of a Bible Module is to seamlessly integrate Scripture references with supplementary text, which can be especially useful for producing lectionaries, topical studies, or other types of religious content.

Key Features

• Text and Scripture Citations: A Bible Module includes both non-Scriptural text and references to Scripture. The references can be drawn from different parts of the Bible and arranged as needed.
• Dynamic Updates: When linked to a Bible translation project, the module automatically pulls the latest translated Scripture texts and inserts them in place of the references. This ensures that the content is always up-to-date.
• Multi-Language Support: Once created, a Bible Module can be adapted for any language. However, the non-Scriptural, or bridging text, must be manually translated.
• Ease of Use: Instead of manually copying and pasting text from Scripture, the module allows you to simply enter a reference, and the software will look it up and incorporate it for you.

Examples of Bible Modules

• Lectionaries: Documents used in worship services, containing selected readings from various parts of the Bible.
• Bible Story Books: These include a mixture of Scripture passages and added narrative text.
• Scripts for Media Productions: These can break down biblical texts into verse ranges for recording as audio clips.

How It Works

A Bible Module consists of a template that contains both text and Scripture references. When you activate the module, it replaces all the Scripture references with the actual text from your active translation project. This updated file can then be printed or exported, similar to any other Scripture book.

Viewing Options

You can view a Bible Module in different formats:

• Unformatted Specification: Raw text, similar to unformatted mode in a normal project window.
• Standard Specification: Formatted specification text without pulling and displaying the referenced text.
• Standard Output: Formatted text with backslash codes and the actual reference text displayed in place of the references.
• Preview Output: Formatted text with the actual reference text displayed in place of the references.

Additional Features

• Automated Additions/Replacements: The module can automatically replace a pronoun with a name or make other contextual changes.
• Discontiguous Ranges: It supports ranges of verses that are not contiguous.

Status and Error Checking

At the top of the view, a status bar displays how many of the referenced verses are found in the project. You can click on the symbol of the document with a blue check mark to see a list of missing verses and reference errors. Note that in some versions of Paratext, empty books with chapter and verse markers may be counted as translated text, even if they contain no actual text. This issue may be addressed in future updates.

By understanding and utilizing Bible Modules, you can efficiently manage and update Scripture-based documents for various purposes, ensuring they remain accurate and relevant.

For more information, visit Paratext.

Creating a Bible module

Paratext does not have any built-in specification files or templates. There are some example Bible modules you can download on another page. Or you can attempt to create a module from scratch. 

In Paratext, go to Tools > Open Bible Module. In the dialog, select which extra book (XXA to XXE) you want Paratext to use for it. To use a template or specification file someone else created, choose the Copy from specification file option, then select the file. The default folder for these is C:\My Paratext 8 Projects\_Modules, but you can use the browse button to select the file anywhere on your computer. (In Paratext 7, the default folder for specification files to copy  is C:\My Paratext Projects\Modules).  

Paratext will create a new module file in the project folder. You can edit this file, and your edits will not affect the original file.

You can also create a new specification file by choosing that option, and entering a new name for the file. For example here we are starting a new module file, Stories of Abraham.

You can then edit it in Paratext. Paratext saves this specification file inside the Modules subfolder of the project folder. 

For example, we could start filling in our Stories of Abraham module by adding text such as titles, and adding reference codes for Paratext to fill in with the appropriate text. 

If we type this into the module file:

then in the view menu switch to Standard output

Paratext will insert the specified text from the project.

You can also create a specification file outside Paratext, if you save it as UTF8 text and follow the restrictions  for naming the file: The name can contain only the following: letters (A-Z a-z), digits (0-9), underscore, or space.

Special markers in module files

The specification includes lines which begin with the following special markers. 

In addition to extracting a section of text to display in the module, you can also display the reference using the book names and format of the project's Scripture reference settings.

Displaying reference names in the target language

You can use codes to have Paratext give the reference using the book names as defined in the project settings. The code pattern is  $(BBB C:V) where BBB is the three-character book abbreviation, C is the chapter number and V is the verse number. (A formatted reference can occur anywhere in the specification after the \id line. For example, in \sr section range references.) This reference format does not have the limitations of the \ref format. The reference:

• must be surrounded by parentheses
• must use the standard three-character book abbreviation
• must use the default punctuation for references (a colon to separate the chapter number and verse number, and a hyphen to separate verse numbers).

When the reference is copied to the Bible module; the standard three-character book abbreviation is replaced by the choice for cross references on the Book Names tab of the Scripture Reference Settings dialog. The default punctuation is replaced by the punctuation specified on the Reference Format tab of the Scripture Reference Settings dialog. For example, in a project where the cross reference choice is to use the book abbreviation; where the book abbreviation for the book of Revelation is Ap; where the chapter verses separator is a period, and where the range of verses separator is a hyphen, $(REV 1:1-16) will become Ap 1.1-16 in the content of the module.To override this default behavior, use any of the following:

• $a(BBB C:V) to use the book abbreviation
• $s(BBB C:V) to use the book short name
• $l(BBB C:V) to use the book long name

Versification differences are not translated by the display references notation $().  If you need to display the reference text for texts of different versification schemes, you will have to create a separate specification file for each versification.  Click on the image below to see an example.

Additional format codes

You may also use format markers from the project stylesheet.  For example, \s (headings), \p (paragraphs), and \rem (comments)

These codes and their following text will be formatted and copied to the output.

Note

• The \refnp marker removes all paragraph markers from the copied text. Therefore, if you want to use \refnp to copy a range of verses, you might want to break the range up into several smaller ranges of verses and precede each \refnp with a \p marker to break the verses into paragraphs manually.
• The \refnp marker can produce some unusual results when used with the \inc s option.
• Any chapter numbers are excluded from the copied project text. If the content needs chapter numbers, for each chapter number needed, the specification itself must include the \c marker followed by the chapter number. However, if the specification contains duplicate chapter numbers (for example, corresponding to multiple books), the View menu options will not display the content.

Video Tutorial

• A how to video: https://vimeo.com/185916082
  • Note: This method uses an older export to RTF method. We now recommend using PTXprint to print/publish your Bible modules.

Further Information

• Troubleshooting Modules
• Example Bible Modules
   
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