diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 5c73cd7..566f265 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -22,13 +22,13 @@ require (
 	github.com/rogpeppe/go-internal v1.9.0 // indirect
 	go.opencensus.io v0.24.0 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/oauth2 v0.7.0 // indirect
-	golang.org/x/sys v0.13.0 // indirect
-	golang.org/x/text v0.13.0 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/sys v0.18.0 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/text v0.14.0 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/xerrors v0.0.0-20220907171357-04be3eba64a2 // indirect
 	google.golang.org/api v0.114.0 // indirect
 	google.golang.org/appengine v1.6.7 // indirect
 	google.golang.org/genproto v0.0.0-20230410155749-daa745c078e1 // indirect
 	google.golang.org/grpc v1.56.3 // indirect
-	google.golang.org/protobuf v1.30.0 // indirect
+	google.golang.org/protobuf v1.33.0 // indirect
 	gopkg.in/check.v1 v1.0.0-20201130134442-10cb98267c6c // indirect
 )
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 028fee2..cd289ba 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -1119,8 +1119,9 @@ golang.org/x/sys v0.5.0/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.6.0/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.7.0/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.8.0/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
-golang.org/x/sys v0.13.0 h1:Af8nKPmuFypiUBjVoU9V20FiaFXOcuZI21p0ycVYYGE=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.13.0/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.18.0 h1:DBdB3niSjOA/O0blCZBqDefyWNYveAYMNF1Wum0DYQ4=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.18.0/go.mod h1:/VUhepiaJMQUp4+oa/7Zr1D23ma6VTLIYjOOTFZPUcA=
 golang.org/x/term v0.0.0-20201126162022-7de9c90e9dd1/go.mod h1:bj7SfCRtBDWHUb9snDiAeCFNEtKQo2Wmx5Cou7ajbmo=
 golang.org/x/term v0.0.0-20210927222741-03fcf44c2211/go.mod h1:jbD1KX2456YbFQfuXm/mYQcufACuNUgVhRMnK/tPxf8=
 golang.org/x/term v0.2.0/go.mod h1:TVmDHMZPmdnySmBfhjOoOdhjzdE1h4u1VwSiw2l1Nuc=
@@ -1147,8 +1148,9 @@ golang.org/x/text v0.6.0/go.mod h1:mrYo+phRRbMaCq/xk9113O4dZlRixOauAjOtrjsXDZ8=
 golang.org/x/text v0.7.0/go.mod h1:mrYo+phRRbMaCq/xk9113O4dZlRixOauAjOtrjsXDZ8=
 golang.org/x/text v0.8.0/go.mod h1:e1OnstbJyHTd6l/uOt8jFFHp6TRDWZR/bV3emEE/zU8=
 golang.org/x/text v0.9.0/go.mod h1:e1OnstbJyHTd6l/uOt8jFFHp6TRDWZR/bV3emEE/zU8=
-golang.org/x/text v0.13.0 h1:ablQoSUd0tRdKxZewP80B+BaqeKJuVhuRxj/dkrun3k=
 golang.org/x/text v0.13.0/go.mod h1:TvPlkZtksWOMsz7fbANvkp4WM8x/WCo/om8BMLbz+aE=
+golang.org/x/text v0.14.0 h1:ScX5w1eTa3QqT8oi6+ziP7dTV1S2+ALU0bI+0zXKWiQ=
+golang.org/x/text v0.14.0/go.mod h1:18ZOQIKpY8NJVqYksKHtTdi31H5itFRjB5/qKTNYzSU=
 golang.org/x/time v0.0.0-20181108054448-85acf8d2951c/go.mod h1:tRJNPiyCQ0inRvYxbN9jk5I+vvW/OXSQhTDSoE431IQ=
 golang.org/x/time v0.0.0-20190308202827-9d24e82272b4/go.mod h1:tRJNPiyCQ0inRvYxbN9jk5I+vvW/OXSQhTDSoE431IQ=
 golang.org/x/time v0.0.0-20191024005414-555d28b269f0/go.mod h1:tRJNPiyCQ0inRvYxbN9jk5I+vvW/OXSQhTDSoE431IQ=
@@ -1491,8 +1493,9 @@ google.golang.org/protobuf v1.27.1/go.mod h1:9q0QmTI4eRPtz6boOQmLYwt+qCgq0jsYwAQ
 google.golang.org/protobuf v1.28.0/go.mod h1:HV8QOd/L58Z+nl8r43ehVNZIU/HEI6OcFqwMG9pJV4I=
 google.golang.org/protobuf v1.28.1/go.mod h1:HV8QOd/L58Z+nl8r43ehVNZIU/HEI6OcFqwMG9pJV4I=
 google.golang.org/protobuf v1.29.1/go.mod h1:HV8QOd/L58Z+nl8r43ehVNZIU/HEI6OcFqwMG9pJV4I=
-google.golang.org/protobuf v1.30.0 h1:kPPoIgf3TsEvrm0PFe15JQ+570QVxYzEvvHqChK+cng=
 google.golang.org/protobuf v1.30.0/go.mod h1:HV8QOd/L58Z+nl8r43ehVNZIU/HEI6OcFqwMG9pJV4I=
+google.golang.org/protobuf v1.33.0 h1:uNO2rsAINq/JlFpSdYEKIZ0uKD/R9cpdv0T+yoGwGmI=
+google.golang.org/protobuf v1.33.0/go.mod h1:c6P6GXX6sHbq/GpV6MGZEdwhWPcYBgnhAHhKbcUYpos=
 gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405/go.mod h1:Co6ibVJAznAaIkqp8huTwlJQCZ016jof/cbN4VW5Yz0=
 gopkg.in/check.v1 v1.0.0-20180628173108-788fd7840127/go.mod h1:Co6ibVJAznAaIkqp8huTwlJQCZ016jof/cbN4VW5Yz0=
 gopkg.in/check.v1 v1.0.0-20201130134442-10cb98267c6c h1:Hei/4ADfdWqJk1ZMxUNpqntNwaWcugrBjAiHlqqRiVk=
diff --git a/pkg/app/passage.go b/pkg/app/passage.go
index 459dc02..2da85fc 100644
--- a/pkg/app/passage.go
+++ b/pkg/app/passage.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ package app
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"log"
+	"net/url"
 	"strings"
 
 	"golang.org/x/net/html"
@@ -14,7 +15,9 @@ import (
 	"github.com/julwrites/ScriptureBot/pkg/utils"
 )
 
-func GetPassageHtml(ref string, ver string) *html.Node {
+func GetPassageHtml(ref, ver string) *html.Node {
+	ref = url.QueryEscape(ref)
+	ver = url.QueryEscape(ver)
 	query := fmt.Sprintf("https://classic.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=%s&version=%s&interface=print", ref, ver)
 
 	return utils.QueryHtml(query)
diff --git a/pkg/app/passage_test.go b/pkg/app/passage_test.go
index 3a5d283..a6dd5f4 100644
--- a/pkg/app/passage_test.go
+++ b/pkg/app/passage_test.go
@@ -18,10 +18,14 @@ func TestGetBiblePassageHtml(t *testing.T) {
 func TestGetReference(t *testing.T) {
 	doc := GetPassageHtml("gen 1", "NIV")
 
+	if doc == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Could not retrieve Bible passage for testing")
+	}
+
 	ref := GetReference(doc)
 
 	if ref != "Genesis 1" {
-		t.Errorf("Failed TestGetReference")
+		t.Errorf("Expected reference 'Genesis 1', but got '%s'", ref)
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/utils/html.go b/pkg/utils/html.go
index 256f6b9..86709f2 100644
--- a/pkg/utils/html.go
+++ b/pkg/utils/html.go
@@ -13,11 +13,30 @@ import (
 )
 
 func GetHtml(url string) *html.Node {
-	res, getErr := http.Get(url)
+	// Create client and request
+	client := &http.Client{}
+	req, err := http.NewRequest("GET", url, nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Printf("Error creating HTTP request: %v", err)
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	// Set a user agent header
+	req.Header.Set("User-Agent", "Mozilla/5.0")
+
+	// Perform the request
+	res, getErr := client.Do(req)
 	if getErr != nil {
 		log.Printf("Error in GET call: %v", getErr)
 		return nil
 	}
+	defer res.Body.Close()
+
+	// Check for non-200 status codes
+	if res.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
+		log.Printf("Non-OK HTTP status: %s", res.Status)
+		return nil
+	}
 
 	doc, parseErr := html.Parse(res.Body)
 	if parseErr != nil {