traVERture

traverture (n.): The act of traversing text to find, convert, and reformat scripture references – a turning across formats, translations, and styles. From Latin trans- ("across") + vertere ("to turn") + -ura (action/result).

A scripture reference parser and formatter for Obsidian. Create interactive links with verse previews, or parse entire documents into a searchable, sortable sidebar table.

Security and Privacy

If you are concerned about the "Scorecard" review or the "Caution" warning on the Obsidian Community plugins page, see SECURITY.

Features

• Inline reference parsing – Wrap any text containing scripture references in {{ }} to create clickable links (in View mode). Surrounding text is preserved. Multiple references within a single block are all detected.

  {{this is John 17:17 and Ps 1:1-3 end of test}}
  

  Produces two clickable links: John 17:17 and Ps 1:1-3

• Verse preview modal – Click any reference to open a modal with the full scripture text[^1] and buttons to copy the text, or open in JW Library[^2] or JW.ORG.

• Sidebar table – Parse a selection or entire document into a searchable, sortable table with columns for Original, Full, Standard, and Official name formats, BCV codes, and chapter and verse numbers. Features include:

  • Accent-insensitive search/filter
  • Sort by any column (ascending/descending/original order)
  • Column visibility toggles
  • Translation language dropdown with live book name translation
  • Option to render book names in all-caps
  • Option to filter out duplicate entries
  • Copy table (with current filter/sort, etc.) to clipboard (TSV format)

• Tag references – Enclose all scripture references in a selection or document with {{ }} markers.

• Insert citation – Replace a scripture reference with the full verse text[^1]. Two formats available:

  • Reference: "verse" – preserves verse numbers
  • "verse" (Reference) – plain text without verse numbers

• Reformat references – Convert references between Full (1 Corinthians), Standard (1 Cor.), and Official (1Co) name formats. Works on selections or entire documents.

• Multi-language support – Parse references in any supported language, and display or fetch verse text in a different language.

  • Supported languages: Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese (simplified), Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Ukrainian

Usage

Desktop

Right-click text selection or anywhere in the editor to access:

• Parse selection / Parse document – Open the sidebar table
• Insert citation – Choose Reference: "verse" or "verse" (Reference)
• Tag selection / Tag document – Wrap references in {{ }}
• Reformat selection / Reformat document – Convert between name formats

Mobile

Tap the three-line hamburger menu and look for tra.VER:ture (scroll icon) to access all commands.

Settings

• Source language – Language of the scripture references in your notes
• Output language – Language for displaying book names in the sidebar and fetching verse text for previews

Performance

Depending on the length of the scripture passage and the device, initial verse lookup requires a network request and may take a moment. Parsing large documents on mobile may take a few seconds.

Installation & Updating

1. In your vault's .obsidian/plugins/ directory, make a directory (folder) called traverture, if you don't already have one
2. Download main.js, styles.css and manifest.json and put them in that directory (over-writing to update)
3. If not already enabled, enable the plugin in Obsidian Settings → Community plugins
4. Configure source and output languages in the plugin settings (if installing for the first time)

[^1]: Bible citation text is taken from New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (NWT) (© Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania). In the future, other translations may be included.

[^2]: JW Library is a registered trademark of Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania.