A question, read by SIFT
Is witchcraft real, and what does Scripture say about it?
Read by SIFT · 5 Nov 2026 About this reading
The short answer
DEVELOPMENT: written up by Claude from an OpenAI reading
Every verse in it is shown whole.
Scripture forbids witchcraft and the practices that go with it. It forbids going to people who practise them, as well as practising them. Moses speaks to Israel as they are about to enter the land:
"There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch," ()
"Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer." ()
"For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee." ()
The LORD also says, through Moses:
"Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God." ()
Witchcraft, sorcery, divination and consulting forbidden spiritual sources are real practices, and Scripture condemns them, including seeking them out. Scripture teaches this. That is a firm moral finding. It says nothing about whether any particular attempt works.
The word real can mean three different things, and Scripture answers each one differently:
- Do these practices exist? Yes. Scripture names them, records people doing them, and condemns them.
- Does anything spiritual actually happen? Scripture reports that, in some cases, it does. The clearest case is in Acts 16: a girl possessed with a spirit of divination, and the spirit leaving her when Paul commanded it in the name of Jesus Christ.
- Can the powers claimed for it be trusted? No. Scripture also speaks of lying divination, of sorceries that deceive, of magicians who failed, and of a curse that could not overturn God's blessing. The power these passages describe is not independent of God or equal to Him.
So a plain "yes" would grant too much, and a plain "no" would deny events Scripture reports. The sections below explain each part, verse by verse, including the hardest passages.
Your question mentioned no personal experience, practice, accusation or danger. So this answer is general. It does not assume that anyone has cursed you, that you have practised witchcraft, or that you have accused anyone. It does not judge anyone's standing before God, and it does not explain the cause of anything that has happened to anyone.
How it was read, replayed
Here the replay stays still. This is the reading in brief; every step of it is listed below, in order.
"Is witchcraft real, and what does Scripture say about it?"
- 15 minutes 17 seconds of reading, by an AI from OpenAI
- 65 searches of Scripture
- 2 word lookups came back marked by the tool as not word-aligned to the sealed text, so no word tags are shown for them
- 2,029 verses opened, from 93 chapters
- 10 false readings struck out
- 18 conclusions handed on
- then the answer, written by Claude in 5 minutes 16 seconds
The readings it struck out, and the verses each would break
- All of it is imaginary or only human pretence. Acts 16:16 · Acts 16:18
- Every claimed occult power must therefore work, and a practitioner's words must be true. Jeremiah 14:14 · Exodus 8:18
- A helpful intention, a sign, or true-sounding words make a forbidden source acceptable. Deuteronomy 18:12 · Deuteronomy 13:1 · Deuteronomy 13:2 · Deuteronomy 13:3 · Acts 16:17 · Acts 16:18
- Witchcraft can override God's decision or control life and death independently. Numbers 23:20 · Deuteronomy 32:39
- Samuel's appearance approves consulting the dead. 1 Chronicles 10:13
- The condemnation belongs only to an old law and has no bearing on following Christ. Galatians 5:20 · Galatians 5:21 · Revelation 21:8
- God's superiority makes evil harmless, or guarantees that a faithful person cannot suffer. Acts 19:16 · Acts 16:23 · 1 Peter 5:9
- A causeless curse must take effect, or trouble proves that somebody has successfully cursed its sufferer. Proverbs 26:2
- Every rebellious act is literally an occult ritual, or the rebuke to the Galatians proves that a spell was performed. 1 Samuel 15:23 · Galatians 3:1 · Galatians 3:3
- An accusation of witchcraft gives a reader authority for private punishment. Romans 12:19 · Matthew 5:44 · Romans 13:4
Verdicts
- **Scripture condemns witchcraft and related practices, including seeking these sources of guidance.
- "There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch," (Deuteronomy 18:10) "Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer." (Deuteronomy 18:11) "For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee." (Deuteronomy 18:12) "Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God." (Leviticus 19:31)
- **The condemnation is also explicit in instruction to followers of Christ.
- "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness," (Galatians 5:19) "Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies," (Galatians 5:20) "Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." (Galatians 5:21)
- **Scripture reports actual spiritual activity connected with divination.
- "And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying:" (Acts 16:16) "And this did she many days.
- **Scripture also identifies false divination, deception, failed attempts, and limits.
- "Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart." (Jeremiah 14:14) "And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived." (Revelation 18:23) "And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man, and upon beast." (Exodus 8:18)
- The power described is not independent of or equal to God. Balaam cannot reverse the blessing God has commanded, Babylon's counsellors cannot deliver themselves, and John assures his addressed children of God's greater power.
- "Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it." (Numbers 23:20) "Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it." (Isaiah 47:14) "Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world." (1 John 4:4)
- The instructed response is to seek God, test speech by his word, refuse the condemned practices, submit to God, and stand in faith and prayer. These are positive instructions, not a demand for a counter-spell.
- "And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God?
- If a response to involvement is mentioned, the record supports repentance, prayer, confession, and abandoning the practice, without declaring a person's fate.
- "Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee." (Acts 8:22) "And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds." (Acts 19:18) "Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver." (Acts 19:19) "So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed." (Acts 19:20)
- The record also read Manasseh's humbling after witchcraft and his prayer being heard.
- "And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger." (2 Chronicles 33:6) "And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers," (2 Chronicles 33:12) "And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom.
- **Israel's penal command must be acknowledged in its setting.
- "And the LORD said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven." (Exodus 20:22) "Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them." (Exodus 21:1) "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." (Exodus 22:18) "A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them." (Leviticus 20:27) "In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old.
How it was read, replayed from its own logs in the order it happened, at eight times its real speed (slower through its record, so each part can be read). It pauses once, at the reading's conclusions. The clock is the real time it happened.
What this reading did
Scripture alone. By its words, and by the Greek and Hebrew behind them. Search 3, sorcer, was the first that found nothing.
In its own context. Never a verse on its own: whole passages, and 54 whole chapters.
False readings fall. It struck out 10 readings, each by a verse it would make false.
Traceable. Every verse it quotes opens in its chapter, as the reading opened it.
The Greek and Hebrew word searches use data from STEP Bible.
What Scripture forbids
In Deuteronomy 18, Moses contrasts the nations' diviners with Israel, who are to hear the word God gives:
"For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy God hath not suffered thee so to do." ()
In Leviticus the LORD forbids using these practices and also seeking them out:
"Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times." ()
"And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people." ()
Leviticus 19:31 calls going to these sources being defiled by them. It allows no "helpful" version.
The history books list these practices among the evils of Israel and of King Manasseh. When Josiah carried out the law, he removed them:
"And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger." ()
"And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger." ()
"And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger." ()
"Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD." ()
Samuel uses witchcraft as a comparison when he rebukes King Saul for disobeying God about Amalek:
"And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." ()
"For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king." ()
The word as makes this a comparison between sins. Rebellion is as serious as witchcraft. The verse does not say that Saul cast a spell, and it does not make every act of rebellion a magical act.
The prophets also speak against these practices, in passages about whole nations and God's judgment:
"And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?" ()
"And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards." ()
"And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers:" ()
"Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts." ()
"And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts." ()
These passages support two points: Scripture condemns these practices, and the practices cannot protect a people from God's judgment. They are political speeches, poetry and announcements of judgment. They are not technical descriptions of spells, and no conclusion about how a spell works rests on them.
Not only part of an old law
Some say this belongs only to Israel's old law and has nothing to do with following Christ. This is not what Scripture teaches. Writing to Christian brethren, Paul lists witchcraft among the works of the flesh and sets those works against the fruit of the Spirit:
"Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness," ()
"Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies," ()
"Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." ()
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith," ()
"Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." ()
In Revelation, John reports a vision. In it, people do not repent of their sorceries, and judgment is spoken against sorcerers. Revelation 21:8 is spoken by the one seated on the throne. Revelation 22 contains Jesus' testimony to the churches.
"Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts." ()
"But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." ()
"For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie." ()
The warning in Galatians 5:21 is real. It cannot be softened into "harmless curiosity". These are statements about right and wrong and about judgment. They give no way to measure whether a spell works, and they give no verdict on any living person's soul.
Does anything spiritual really happen?
Some say every account of witchcraft is imagination or human pretence. This is not what Scripture teaches. If it were true, this narration in Acts would be false:
"And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying:" ()
"And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour." ()
The narrator says this, not only the girl's masters. He says there was a spirit, and that it left. This is a narrated case of spiritual activity connected with divination. It does not show that every practitioner has a spirit or that every prediction comes true.
Two other passages, read separately, also stand against calling all evil spiritual activity imaginary. One is John's vision; the other is Paul's warning about the Lord's coming:
"For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty." ()
"And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:" ()
"Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders," ()
These passages belong to their own settings. Neither one names any modern claim or any present person as what it describes. Matthew 24:1-31 and Mark 13:1-27 were also read, as warnings about deceptive signs. They only add support: no conclusion here depends on them. They are not treated as describing the same events as Acts 16 or Revelation 16 just because all of them mention signs.
The magicians of Egypt
The account of Pharaoh's magicians is strong evidence against calling the whole subject imaginary. It is also evidence of the subject's limits. The narrator reports what the magicians did:
"Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments." ()
"For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods." ()
"And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments: and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, neither did he hearken unto them; as the LORD had said." ()
"And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt." ()
The same account then reports what they could not do:
"And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man, and upon beast." ()
"Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said." ()
"And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians." ()
Exodus 7:12 says the rods became serpents. It does not say the onlookers only thought so. The same verse says Aaron's rod swallowed theirs. An honest answer keeps both the magicians' results and their limits.
How the magicians did these things is not explained in this account. It reports their actions, results and limits, but it does not describe their technique or name any particular spirit behind them. To claim a detailed natural trick, or a detailed spiritual mechanism, would need information the account does not give. This is a statement about these chapters only. It is not a claim that the whole of Scripture is silent on the matter.
Not every claim is true
Some reason that because Scripture forbids witchcraft, every power a practitioner claims must work. This is not what Scripture teaches. That reading would make Exodus 8:18 false, where the magicians tried to bring forth lice and could not. It would also make these words of the LORD false:
"Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart." ()
"Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon:" ()
"For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish." ()
"For there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel." ()
"They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The LORD saith: and the LORD hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word." ()
These are the LORD's own accusations, given through His prophets, against people who promised peace against His word. They are more than reports of failed attempts: they name the divination itself as lying.
Ezekiel 13 is a hard passage, because it speaks of slaying and saving souls:
"And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hear your lies?" ()
"Your kerchiefs also will I tear, and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted; and ye shall know that I am the LORD." ()
"Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life:" ()
The passage explains its own words: the harm is done by lying to the LORD's people and by false promises of life. The LORD opposes these women and promises to deliver His people from them. So the passage does not give them independent power over life and death. It still describes real damage, not harmless play.
Isaiah speaks to Babylon and challenges its sorceries and star-watchers to save it:
"Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail." ()
"Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee." ()
"Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it." ()
The conditional words in verse 12 are a challenge. It does not say that they can prevail, and the judgment that follows denies that they will be rescued. Revelation says something similar about Babylon in John's vision:
"And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived." ()
The court stories of Joseph and Daniel set the failure of the magicians against God giving understanding:
"And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh." ()
"And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace." ()
"As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams." ()
"Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king;" ()
"But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;" ()
"Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers: and I told the dream before them; but they did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof." ()
"Then came in all the king's wise men: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof." ()
In these stories, true understanding comes as God's gift and revelation. No one commands it from God. When the kings speak of Daniel as having charge over the magicians, that does not show Daniel practised the forbidden acts.
Ezekiel also describes the king of Babylon using divination at a fork in the road:
"For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver." ()
"At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering rams against the gates, to cast a mount, and to build a fort." ()
In that passage, God's judgment on Jerusalem's sin stands behind what happens. The passage does not show that the arrows, images and liver decide what God does. It also does not show that such consulting never influences what people do.
So Scripture identifies false divination, deception, failed attempts and limits. No claim of a working spell or curse should be accepted simply because Scripture mentions witchcraft. These passages do not diagnose any modern person or any unexplained event.
Not equal to God
Some think witchcraft can overrule God's decision, or control life and death on its own. This is not what Scripture teaches. In Numbers 22 to 24, Balak sends rewards for divination to Balaam, hoping for a curse on Israel. God forbids it:
"And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came unto Balaam, and spake unto him the words of Balak." ()
"And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed." ()
"Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it." ()
"Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!" ()
"And when Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he went not, as at other times, to seek for enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness." ()
The curse Balak wanted could not reverse God's blessing. These words are about Jacob and Israel in this event. They are not a promise that no faithful person will ever suffer.
God Himself says:
"See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand." ()
Isaiah 47:14 and Ezekiel 13:21, quoted above, say the same: Babylon's sorceries could not save it, and the LORD will deliver His people from those who hunt them. John writes this assurance to the believers he calls little children:
"Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world." ()
Curses and trouble
A proverb speaks to curses directly:
"As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come." ()
Some say a curse with no cause must still take effect. This is not what Scripture teaches: that would make this proverb false. Others say that when trouble comes, it proves someone has cursed the sufferer. That turns the proverb around, and no verse supports it. This is not what Scripture teaches either. The proverb works in one direction only. It does not say that every curse with a claimed cause will land, and it gives no licence to find someone to blame when trouble comes.
Real danger, and suffering is still possible
God is greater, but that does not make evil harmless. Some say evil spirits must be unreal or powerless, or that a faithful person cannot suffer. This is not what Scripture teaches. That would make these narrated events false:
"And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul:" ()
"And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded." ()
In Acts 19, some men tried to borrow Jesus' name. It failed, and they were wounded. In Philippi, after the spirit left the girl at Paul's command, Paul and Silas suffered:
"And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers," ()
"And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:" ()
Peter writes to believers about suffering:
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:" ()
"Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world." ()
Paul names the real struggle:
"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." ()
The opposite mistake also fails. Treating evil as equal to God would make 1 John 4:4 false, and also Acts 16:18, where the spirit really did leave. The response these letters give is steadfast faith, prayer and submission to God. That response is set out further below.
When it gives a sign or says something true
Some think a forbidden source becomes acceptable if it gives a sign, says something true, or is meant to help. This is not what Scripture teaches. Deuteronomy 18:12 gives no such exception. Moses also deals with the case where a sign actually happens:
"If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder," ()
"And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;" ()
"Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul." ()
This "if" is a rule for that case. It is not evidence that any particular sign happened. But even when the sign does come to pass, the command is: do not listen.
The girl in Philippi also said things that sounded true:
"The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation." ()
Paul still commanded the spirit to leave (Acts 16:18). An effect someone reports does not make it permitted to seek that effect.
Saul and the woman at Endor
This is one of the hardest passages. King Saul was afraid of the Philistine army, and God was not answering him. He went in disguise to a woman with a familiar spirit:
"And when Saul enquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets." ()
"And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee." ()
"And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul." ()
"And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself." ()
"And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do." ()
"And the LORD hath done to him, as he spake by me: for the LORD hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbour, even to David:" ()
"Because thou obeyedst not the voice of the LORD, nor executedst his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the LORD done this thing unto thee this day." ()
"Moreover the LORD will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: and to morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me: the LORD also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines." ()
Samuel's words look back to the rejection over Amalek in 1 Samuel 15. Later, Chronicles gives Scripture's own judgment on what Saul did:
"So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, even against the word of the LORD, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it;" ()
"And enquired not of the LORD: therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse." ()
Several readings of this passage fail:
- "Samuel appeared, so consulting the dead is acceptable guidance." This is not what Scripture teaches: it would make 1 Chronicles 10:13 false. Who appeared, and whether Saul was right to consult, are two separate questions. The text naming Samuel does not give permission to do what Saul did.
- "The woman only pretended," or "it must have been an evil spirit in disguise." Saul's own impression in verse 14 could have been mistaken. But in verses 12 and 15 the narrator names Samuel, so this is more than Saul's report. To call it all a mistaken appearance adds a condition the text does not state. No verse that was read says this speaker was an impersonating spirit.
Paul does give a serious warning about appearances:
"For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ." ()
"And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light." ()
Paul is warning the Corinthians about false apostles. Deception under a good disguise is a real danger, and an impressive appearance does not prove itself genuine. But this passage does not mention Endor, and it does not say the speaker there was Satan. Using it to name this particular speaker as an impostor would add something neither passage says. Samuel is kept because the narrator names him, not because Saul's impression is trusted.
- "The woman could summon any dead person whenever she wished," or "Scripture says the LORD sent Samuel as a special exception." The text says neither.
How the appearance came about is not stated. Two accounts each keep every reported word true. In the first, the appearance was connected with the consultation Saul asked for: he asked her to bring up the one he named, and Samuel speaks of being brought up. In the second, it was an exceptional appearance outside the woman's control. Neither is shown as a general way such things work. The woman's loud cry does not by itself show she was surprised by a real appearance, because her next words are about recognising Saul. And verse 6 says only that the LORD had not answered Saul by those means. It does not say who or what brought about what followed.
Under either account, the answer stays the same. The account reports Samuel. Saul's consultation stays condemned. And nothing here shows that anyone can call up the dead at will. Where Samuel or Saul is now is not weighed here, and no conclusion about it is drawn from verse 19.
Simon in Samaria
Acts 8 tells of a man who had long practised sorcery:
"But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:" ()
"To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God." ()
"And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries." ()
"Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done." ()
"But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money." ()
"Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee." ()
Calling Simon the great power of God is what the people said (Acts 8:10). The narrator reports it but does not agree with it. Simon himself was amazed at the signs done through Philip. The passage establishes that Simon practised sorcery and held long sway over the people. It does not describe any particular physical wonder done by Simon, and it does not describe all his methods. So it cannot show that all sorcery is fraud, and it cannot show that all sorcery succeeds.
What Scripture tells its readers to do
Scripture does not answer witchcraft with a counter-spell. It gives positive instructions: seek God, test what is said by His word, refuse these practices, submit to God, and stand firm in faith and prayer.
Isaiah wrote at a time of fear, when people were looking for political advice. God's word through him contrasts consulting the dead with seeking God:
"And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?" ()
"To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." ()
The letters to believers say:
"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." ()
"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." ()
"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might." ()
"Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." ()
"And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:" ()
"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;" ()
James 4:6 and 1 Peter 5:5, which speak of God giving grace, were checked against the verse they draw on. In its setting there, grace to the lowly goes together with refusing oppression and quarrels without cause:
"Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly." ()
These instructions are addressed to believers. They do not diagnose anyone's circumstances, and they do not promise that a faithful person will never suffer harm in body (1 Peter 5:9).
Turning away from these practices
For anyone who has been involved, Scripture shows repentance, prayer, confession and leaving the practice behind. Peter told Simon to repent and pray (Acts 8:22). Peter said this about Simon's wicked attempt to buy God's gift with money. In Acts 19, people gave up their curious arts:
"And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds." ()
"Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver." ()
"So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed." ()
They brought their own books. This is a record of what they did. It gives no permission to take or burn anyone else's property.
King Manasseh had used witchcraft (2 Chronicles 33:6). Scripture also records what happened afterwards:
"And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers," ()
"And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD he was God." ()
So Scripture's condemnation of the practice is not a label that can never be removed. Nothing here pronounces on the standing of any person living today before God, including whoever is reading this.
The death penalty in Israel's law
Israel's law commanded death for witchcraft. That command must be reported honestly and read in its setting. God gave Moses words for the children of Israel, followed by the judgments that governed their community, with judges, restitution and penalties:
"And the LORD said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven." ()
"Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them." ()
"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." ()
"A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them." ()
Exodus 22:18 really is a death-penalty command in that setting. It is not only disapproval, and it is not a figure of speech. Leviticus 20:27 says plainly that it covers a man or a woman.
Hebrews says plainly that there is a new covenant. The quotation in Hebrews comes from Jeremiah:
"Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:" ()
"Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:" ()
"But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people." ()
"In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away." ()
Hebrews 8 also quotes the instruction about the tabernacle's pattern. That quotation traces back to Exodus 25, which is about the sanctuary, not about witches. Jeremiah 31:33 shows that the new covenant writes God's law within. So it is not indifference to right and wrong. Paul says the same about himself:
"To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law." ()
So Galatians 5 keeps the condemnation of witchcraft for followers of Christ. It does not hand Israel's penal law over to the reader.
Scripture gives positive commands about how to treat others, including people who do wrong:
"Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." ()
"Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." ()
"For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil." ()
"But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;" ()
"Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you." ()
"But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person." ()
The verses Paul draws on in Romans 12 were also read in their own settings:
"To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste." ()
"If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink:" ()
The command to love your neighbour comes from a chapter that also forbids taking revenge:
"Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD." ()
First Corinthians 5 is about fornication, not witchcraft. It is used here for one point only: the church puts the wicked person away from among itself and leaves those outside to God's judgment.
Some say an accusation of witchcraft gives a reader the right to punish someone privately. This is not what Scripture teaches. It would make Romans 12:19 and Matthew 5:44 false. Romans 13:4 names the ruler's role. It does not make any reader a private executioner, and it does not set out any present-day law about witchcraft. Exodus 22:18 does not authorise a reader to kill, harm or persecute anyone suspected of witchcraft. This reading did not judge any nation's whole system of criminal law.
The same applies to Elymas, a sorcerer who opposed Paul:
"And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Barjesus:" ()
"But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith." ()
"And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand." ()
Paul spoke this filled with the Spirit, and his blindness was the Lord's hand. This records an event. It is not a command for readers to injure anyone.
How some of these words are used
Arguments about witchcraft sometimes rest on single words. The reading checked how Scripture itself uses these words, in the original languages. Two passages sharing a word does not prove they speak of the same thing, and two passages using different words does not prove they don't. Each finding above rests on what the passages themselves say.
Rebellion and "bewitched". Some say every rebellious act is literally an occult ritual, or that Paul's rebuke to the Galatians proves someone had cast a spell on them. This is not what Scripture teaches. Samuel's sentence in 1 Samuel 15:23 is a comparison about rejecting God's word. Paul's rebuke is about obeying the truth, and about the Spirit and the flesh:
"O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?" ()
"Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?" ()
To treat these words as a technical diagnosis adds something the passages do not say. This does not cancel the practitioners and practices that other passages name plainly. The Greek word for bewitched in Galatians 3:1 (index number G940) appears nowhere else in Scripture.
The word in Acts 8. In Acts 8:9 and 8:11, the Greek word for bewitched (G1839) is the same word used for Simon's own wondering in Acts 8:13. Elsewhere it is used for people's amazement at Jesus and at God's works, and once for being beside oneself:
"And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David?" ()
"And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion." ()
"And when his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, He is beside himself." ()
"And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment." ()
"And he went up unto them into the ship; and the wind ceased: and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered." ()
"And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers." ()
"And her parents were astonished: but he charged them that they should tell no man what was done." ()
"Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre;" ()
"And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?" ()
"And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?" ()
"But all that heard him were amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests?" ()
"And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost." ()
"But Peter continued knocking: and when they had opened the door, and saw him, they were astonished." ()
"For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we be sober, it is for your cause." ()
So this word on its own cannot prove that a spell took place. Amazement at Jesus is a response to what He did, not a sign of being under a spell. Equally, these uses do not prove that Simon's sorcery was only tricks.
The words in Acts 16. The Greek words for the spirit of divination and for soothsaying in Acts 16:16 (G4436, G3132) appear nowhere else. Acts 16 is linked to the divination Moses forbids because of the actual practice: obtaining guidance from such a source. The link does not come from the Greek being the same as the Hebrew.
The Hebrew behind "enchantments" in Exodus. The word behind enchantments in Exodus 7:22, 8:7 and 8:18 (H3909) is also used for doing something softly, secretly or privately:
"And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn: and she came softly, and uncovered his feet, and laid her down." ()
"And Saul commanded his servants, saying, Commune with David secretly, and say, Behold, the king hath delight in thee, and all his servants love thee: now therefore be the king's son in law." ()
"And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the LORD said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe privily." ()
These passages describe ordinary quiet or private actions, not magic. 1 Samuel 24:4 is used here only for the word privily. Nothing rests on the saying David's men attribute to the LORD. So this word does not tell how the magicians did what they did. It also does not cancel the enchantments and results Exodus reports. The word behind enchantments in Exodus 7:11 (H3858) is used elsewhere only for the flaming sword at Eden. That does not explain the magicians' method either:
"So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." ()
"Familiar spirit." The Hebrew word (H178) appears in the passages above about consulting the dead. It is also used for bottles in Elihu's speech, and in a comparison about besieged Ariel speaking low from the dust:
"Behold, my belly is as wine which hath no vent; it is ready to burst like new bottles." ()
"And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust." ()
Job 32:19 describes a belly ready to burst. It is not an occult consultation. Isaiah 29:4 is a likeness. It does not report that Ariel summoned anyone from the dead.
Charmers and enchantment as pictures. Two passages use charming as a picture:
"Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear;" ()
"Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely." ()
"Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment; and a babbler is no better." ()
The psalm compares wicked people who refuse to listen to a deaf adder. Ecclesiastes 10 joins a biting serpent and a babbler in its teaching about folly. Neither passage measures supernatural power.
The Hebrew behind "witchcraft" in 1 Samuel 15:23. This word (H7081) is the usual word for divination. It is also behind divine sentence in a proverb about kings:
"A divine sentence is in the lips of the king: his mouth transgresseth not in judgment." ()
This proverb is about kings judging rightly. It gives no permission to consult forbidden practitioners. One shared word cannot make every use a sinful ritual, and it cannot erase what Deuteronomy forbids.
Wise men and a sorcerer. The Greek word for the wise men in Matthew 2 (G3097) is the same one used for Elymas the sorcerer in Acts 13:6 and 13:8:
"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem," ()
"And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way." ()
Matthew reports the wise men coming to worship and being warned by God. Acts calls Elymas a false prophet who opposed the faith. The shared word does not prove that Matthew's wise men did what Deuteronomy forbids. It also does not make Elymas's opposition acceptable.
Words that do link. The words in different passages are linked by what the passages say, not by the words alone:
- The Hebrew word for witch (H3784) appears in the ban of Deuteronomy 18:10. It also appears in the sorcerers of Exodus 7:11, Daniel 2:2 and Malachi 3:5, and in Manasseh's witchcraft in 2 Chronicles 33:6. These passages describe overlapping practices. That does not make every item identical, and it does not give every practitioner the same ability.
- The Greek word in Galatians 5:20 (G5331) is also used for the sorceries of Revelation 9:21 and 18:23. This supports a moral link and a link to deception. It gives no recipe and does not describe any physical means. No definition about medicines, substances, or everything called magic today has been read into it.
- The words for sorcerers in Revelation 21:8 and 22:15 (G5332, G5333) appear only in those two verses.
- The Hebrew for witchcrafts (H3785) links 2 Kings 9:22, Micah 5:12 and Nahum 3:4 with the sorceries of Isaiah 47:9 and 47:12. This supports the link between these practices, their condemnation, deception, and their failure to rescue. It does not show that the techniques were identical.
What this reading covered, and what it did not
The reading used the King James text of Scripture only. It used no commentators, history or other outside sources. It searched both by key words and by concept, including witch, witchcraft, witchcrafts, sorcery, sorceries, sorcerer, sorcerers, divination, familiar spirit(s), enchantment(s), magicians, charmer(s), necromancer, soothsaying, curious arts and bewitched. It also searched the original-language words behind them. The full list of searches and every result is in the record behind this answer.
- Main searches. Every result from the main topic searches, and from all the original-language word checks, was opened and read in its passage.
- Results not opened. 31 results from side searches were not opened, and nothing was drawn from them. Those searches were used only to trace where a quotation came from: three from a search for them that are without, four from love thy neighbour as thyself, eleven from scorner, three from scorneth, and ten from pattern.
- Searches with no results. Searches for the word fragments sorcer, magic, enchant and charm returned nothing, because the search matches whole words only. That does not mean Scripture is without these subjects, and the whole-word searches found them.
- Not the whole of Scripture. The reading did not open the whole of Scripture. Nothing here claims that Scripture is silent on anything beyond what these searches show.
- What was not tested. No modern claims, alleged spells, history or real-world tests were examined. The reading has not checked any present person's claim of power, any alleged spell, or the cause of anyone's experiences. That is because no circumstances or evidence were given. It is not a finding that Scripture is silent about such things, and it is not a finding that every such claim is true or that every such claim is false. The question, as asked, needed no verdict that depends on anyone's circumstances.
- Two index entries. The word-index entries at 1 Samuel 28:7 and Acts 13:6 did not line up with the text, so no word argument rests on them.
- File checks. The checksums of the files the reading used were not recalculated independently.
Every step of the reading
Everything the replay shows, as plain text, in the order it happened. Times are from the moment the reading began.
Every search, in order (65)
- word family witchcraft 20 found
- words witch 2 found
- words sorcer 0 found
- words magic 0 found
- words familiar spirit 6 found
- words divination 12 found
- words enchant 0 found
- words witchcraft 3 found
- words witchcrafts 3 found
- words sorcery 1 found
- words sorceries 5 found
- words sorcerer 2 found
- words sorcerers 6 found
- words enchantments 10 found
- words magicians 14 found
- words familiar spirits 9 found
- words curious arts 1 found
- original word G5331 3 found sorceries 2 · witchcraft 1
- original word H3784 6 found sorcerers 3 · witch 2 · witchcraft 1
- original word H7081 11 found divination 8 · divinations 1 · sentence 1 · witchcraft 1
- words lying wonders 1 found
- words spirits of devils 1 found
- words try the spirits 1 found
- words spiritual wickedness 1 found
- words curse causeless 1 found
- words bewitched 3 found
- original word G4436 1 found divination 1
- original word G3132 1 found soothsaying 1
- original word G3096 1 found sorcery 1
- original word G3095 1 found sorceries 1
- original word G1839 17 found amazed 6 · astonished 6 · were 3 · bewitched 2 · himself 1 · made 1 · ourselves 1 · wondered 1
- original word H178 16 found spirits 9 · spirit 7 · bottles 1
- original word H3858 2 found enchantments 1 · flaming 1
- words enchantment 3 found
- words soothsaying 1 found
- words necromancer 1 found
- words charm 0 found
- words false Christs 2 found
- words resist the devil 1 found
- words judgments which thou shalt set 1 found
- words Dearly beloved, avenge not 1 found
- words them that are without 5 found
- words new covenant 4 found
- words bless them that curse 2 found
- words charmer 1 found
- words charmers 2 found
- words charming 1 found
- words love thy neighbour as thyself 7 found
- words Vengeance is mine 1 found
- words To me belongeth vengeance 1 found
- words enemy hunger 1 found
- words scorner 11 found
- words proud, but 1 found
- words giveth grace 3 found
- all of enemy + hungry 1 found
- words scorneth 4 found
- words sign or a wonder 1 found
- words pattern 13 found
- original word G940 1 found bewitched 1
- original word H3785 5 found witchcrafts 4 · sorceries 2
- original word G5332 1 found sorcerers 1
- original word G5333 1 found sorcerers 1
- original word H3909 6 found enchantments 3 · privily 1 · secretly 1 · softly 1
- words deceitful workers 1 found
- original word G3097 5 found men 4 · sorcerer 2
Every time it opened Scripture (10 times, 2,029 verses)
- Exodus 7 25 Exodus 8 32 Exodus 22 31 Deuteronomy 18 22 1 Samuel 15 35 1 Samuel 28 25 Acts 8 40 Acts 13:1–12 12 Acts 16 40 Acts 19:1–20 20 Galatians 5 26 Isaiah 47 15 Revelation 9 21 Revelation 18 24 Numbers 22 41 Numbers 23 30 Numbers 24 25 464 verses, 464 new
- 1 Samuel 15 35 1 Samuel 28 25 Acts 8 40 Acts 13:1–12 12 Acts 16 40 Acts 19:1–20 20 Galatians 5 26 Isaiah 47 15 213 verses, 0 new
- Leviticus 19:26–37 12 Leviticus 20 27 2 Kings 9 37 2 Kings 17:6–23 18 2 Kings 21:1–18 18 2 Kings 23:1–25 25 1 Chronicles 10 14 2 Chronicles 33 25 Isaiah 8 22 Isaiah 19:1–15 15 Isaiah 29:1–8 8 Jeremiah 14 22 Jeremiah 27 22 Ezekiel 12:21–28 8 Ezekiel 13 23 Ezekiel 21:18–32 15 Proverbs 16:1–15 15 Micah 5 15 Nahum 3 19 Malachi 3 18 378 verses, 378 new
- 2 Kings 23:1–25 25 1 Chronicles 10 14 2 Chronicles 33 25 Isaiah 8 22 Isaiah 19:1–15 15 Isaiah 29:1–8 8 Jeremiah 14 22 Revelation 9 21 Revelation 21:1–8 8 Revelation 22 21 181 verses, 29 new
- Genesis 41:1–40 40 Daniel 1 21 Daniel 2 49 Daniel 4 37 Daniel 5 31 Exodus 9:1–12 12 190 verses, 190 new
- 2 Thessalonians 2 17 Revelation 16 21 1 John 4 21 Ephesians 6 24 Proverbs 26:1–12 12 James 4 17 Galatians 3:1–14 14 Matthew 12:22–37 16 Matthew 24:1–31 31 Mark 13:1–27 27 Job 32 22 Genesis 3:14–24 11 Ecclesiastes 10 20 Psalms 58 11 264 verses, 264 new
- Exodus 20 26 Exodus 21:1–11 11 Romans 12 21 Romans 13 14 1 Corinthians 5 13 Matthew 5:38–48 11 Luke 6:20–36 17 Hebrews 8 13 Jeremiah 31:23–40 18 144 verses, 144 new
- Leviticus 19:1–25 25 Deuteronomy 32:1–43 43 Proverbs 25:15–28 14 Proverbs 3:21–35 15 Deuteronomy 13 18 Exodus 25 40 1 Corinthians 9:1–23 23 Hebrews 12:18–29 12 1 Peter 5 14 204 verses, 204 new
- 2 Corinthians 11 33 Ruth 3 18 1 Samuel 18 30 1 Samuel 24 22 Mark 2:1–12 12 Mark 3:13–35 23 Mark 5:21–43 23 Mark 6:45–56 12 Luke 2:40–52 13 Luke 8:40–56 17 Luke 24:13–35 23 Acts 2:1–21 21 Acts 9:1–31 31 Acts 10:34–48 15 Acts 12:1–19 19 2 Corinthians 5 21 333 verses, 333 new
- Matthew 2 23 Mark 3:13–35 23 Mark 5:21–43 23 Mark 6:45–56 12 Luke 2:40–52 13 94 verses, 23 new
The reader's own notes (8)
- The reading will begin with both SIFT files, then find and fetch the relevant passages through the permitted tools. The record will be completed and checked before the hand-off is written.
- The searches connect “witchcraft” with sorcery and divination, but those links still need testing in context. The reading is checking both reported effects and passages about deception, failure, and limits; a prohibition alone does not establish what a practice can do.
- The accounts read so far distinguish three things: forbidden practices, reported spiritual activity, and claims that deceive or fail. The reading is also checking Saul’s consultation and the commands carrying a death penalty, since neither can be passed over in answering what Scripture says.
- The reading now has positive support for distinguishing real spiritual activity from trustworthy guidance: Acts 16 reports a spirit leaving, while other passages describe lies and failed claims. Saul’s account also names Samuel in the narration; the record will preserve that wording while checking what it establishes about the consultation.
-
out/RECORD.mdhas been written with the searches, contextual readings, competing interpretations, and whole-verse quotations. The next step is the required read-back against the full question and the unread search hits, followed by any needed corrections before writingout/HANDOFF.md. - The read-back prompted two further checks. The same indexed word used for Elymas also occurs for the wise men in Matthew 2, so the word number cannot decide the moral judgment by itself. The warning about Satan appearing as an angel of light also needed weighing against the narration naming Samuel; it establishes deception as a danger but does not identify that particular speaker.
- The revised record and hand-off are written. The read-back added qualifications about word use and deceptive appearances without changing the main findings. A final check is confirming that the hand-off’s quotations and conclusions match the completed record.
- Completed and read back: - RECORD.md - HANDOFF.md The hand-off includes the read-back additions, conclusions, hard passages, and remaining limits.
What its record and its hand-off say, in their order
Question, scope, and sources
The person's complete question is: "Is witchcraft real, and what does Scripture say about it?"
No practice, personal experience, accusation, danger, or intended action was disclosed. The question asks both about reality and about Scripture's judgment. The word real could ask whether the practices exist, whether anything spiritual actually happens in connection with them, or whether the powers claimed for them can be trusted. These need separate findings. No present person's spiritual standing or cause of misfortune is being judged.
The files opened for reading were /Users/Shared/before-god-sift-library-2026-11-03/runs/witchcraft/inputs/SIFT-v3-CORE.md and /Users/Shared/before-god-sift-library-2026-11-03/runs/witchcraft/inputs/SIFT-v3-POLICY.md, whole and together, before the searches. Scripture was read only through the permitted KJV tool. Search results and word indexes supplied locations, not definitions or explanations. This record is written to /Users/Shared/before-god-sift-library-2026-11-03/runs/witchcraft/out/RECORD.md; its read-back and any resulting changes are recorded below before the hand-off is written. No outside sources supply the findings.
From its hand-off to the writer
Their words
"Is witchcraft real, and what does Scripture say about it?"
No personal experience, practice, accusation, danger, or intention was disclosed. The answer must address both reality and Scripture's judgment. It must distinguish the existence of the practices and reported spiritual activity from the truth of every claimed power. It must not assume that the person has been cursed, has practised witchcraft, or has accused anyone. No question about circumstances is needed to answer this general question.
The completed record is RECORD.md. The answer should begin with the substance of Scripture's teaching and its verse, then give the earned distinction about real. A bare yes would grant too much; a bare no would deny reported events. No present person's spiritual standing or cause of misfortune has been determined.
Hard passages
The Egyptian magicians: Exodus 7-8, with 9:1-12 read. This is strong evidence against reducing the subject to imaginary powers. The narrator says their rods became serpents and they brought up frogs. The same account reports Aaron's rod swallowing theirs, their inability to bring forth lice, and their inability to stand because of boils. Neither their effects nor their limits may be removed. Their technical method and the particular spiritual agent are not specified.
"Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments." ()
"For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods." ()
"And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt." ()
"And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man, and upon beast." ()
"And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians." ()
Saul at Endor: 1 Samuel 28, with 1 Samuel 15 and 1 Chronicles 10 read. The narration names Samuel as well as reporting Saul's perception. It must not be rewritten as merely the woman's pretence or an expressly identified impersonating spirit. Samuel's words refer back to the rejection concerning Amalek already read in 1 Samuel 15. The subsequent interpretation condemns the consultation.
"And when Saul enquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets." ()
"And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee." ()
"And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul." ()
"And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself." ()
"And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do." ()
"And the LORD hath done to him, as he spake by me: for the LORD hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbour, even to David:" ()
"Because thou obeyedst not the voice of the LORD, nor executedst his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the LORD done this thing unto thee this day." ()
"So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, even against the word of the LORD, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it;" ()
The read-back added 2 Corinthians 11, whole, as a serious challenge to trusting appearances. Paul warns the Corinthians about false apostles; Satan's appearance under a good guise establishes a real danger of deception. It does not identify the speaker in 1 Samuel 28 as Satan. The retained identification rests on the narrator's words, not on a rule that appearances cannot deceive.
"For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ." ()
"And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light." ()
Simon: Acts 8, whole. The people call him God's great power, but the narrator marks that as their saying. Simon himself wonders at Philip's signs. The passage establishes sorcery and influence over people; it does not narrate a particular physical miracle by Simon or specify all his techniques. Neither universal fraud nor universal supernatural success can be derived from it.
"But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:" ()
"To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God." ()
"And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries." ()
"Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done." ()
Lying divination and Babylon's failed protection: Jeremiah 14 and 27, Ezekiel 13, and Isaiah 47, whole. These are strong evidence against believing all claims. Their false claims and failures do not erase the narrated spirit in Acts 16. Ezekiel's language about slaying and saving is explained by lying and false promises; the LORD promises deliverance from the women. It does not grant them independent rule over life and death.
"Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart." ()
"Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon:" ()
"For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish." ()
"And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hear your lies?" ()
"Your kerchiefs also will I tear, and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted; and ye shall know that I am the LORD." ()
"Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life:" ()
"Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail." ()
"Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it." ()
Balaam: Numbers 22-24, whole. The intended curse cannot reverse the blessing. The assurance concerns Jacob and Israel in this account; it must not be expanded into immunity from all suffering for any believer.
"Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it." ()
"Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!" ()
"And when Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he went not, as at other times, to seek for enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness." ()
Evil spiritual signs: Revelation 16 and 2 Thessalonians 2, whole. These reinforce that evil spiritual activity cannot all be declared imaginary. Their particular settings must not be transferred to a present person without evidence.
"For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty." ()
"And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:" ()
"Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders," ()
The death-penalty command and the continuing condemnation. Exodus's actual penalty is neither a metaphor nor a command addressed without distinction to every later reader. Hebrews explicitly names a new covenant, and Galatians retains condemnation of the practice. The read-back added the whole verse about inward law from Jeremiah's new-covenant promise; this qualifies any suggestion that distinguishing covenants means moral indifference.
"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." ()
"In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away." ()
"But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people." ()
"Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies," ()
"Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." ()
The wise men and Elymas: an added word-use check. The G3097 index connects the men in Matthew 2 with Elymas in Acts 13. Matthew 2, read whole during read-back, reports the wise men coming to worship and God's warning to them; Acts 13 calls Elymas a false prophet and describes opposition to faith. The shared number cannot establish that Matthew's men practised the acts forbidden in Deuteronomy or that Elymas's opposition was acceptable. The read-back also completed the quotation showing that Elymas's blindness was a narrated judgment, not a reader's instruction to injure anyone.
"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem," ()
"And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way." ()
"And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Barjesus:" ()
"But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith." ()
"And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand." ()
Added checks on enchantments and bewitched. These qualify word-based arguments without reversing the findings. H3785 connects witchcrafts and sorceries in the already-read judgment passages. H3909 also locates ordinary quiet or private conduct in Ruth 3, 1 Samuel 18:1-30, and 1 Samuel 24, all read in full named ranges during read-back. That index cannot supply the magicians' method. The use of 1 Samuel 24:4 is confined to the adverb, not the authority of the saying attributed to the LORD by David's men.
"And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers:" ()
"Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail." ()
"And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn: and she came softly, and uncovered his feet, and laid her down." ()
"And Saul commanded his servants, saying, Commune with David secretly, and say, Behold, the king hath delight in thee, and all his servants love thee: now therefore be the king's son in law." ()
"And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the LORD said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe privily." ()
The G1839 read-back opened Mark 2:1-12; 3:13-35; 5:21-43; 6:45-56; Luke 2:40-52; 8:40-56; 24:13-35; Acts 2:1-21; 9:1-31; 10:34-48; 12:1-19; and 2 Corinthians 5. These confirm that the indexed word's use includes amazement and being beside oneself. They do not prove a spell occurred in every use or prove that Simon's sorcery was only tricks. Each added passage must remain available to the answer writer as a qualification on the lexical argument; none is a new requirement to explain all its incidental subjects.
"And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion." ()
"And when his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, He is beside himself." ()
"And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment." ()
"And he went up unto them into the ship; and the wind ceased: and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered." ()
"And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers." ()
"And her parents were astonished: but he charged them that they should tell no man what was done." ()
"Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre;" ()
"And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?" ()
"And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?" ()
"But all that heard him were amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests?" ()
"And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost." ()
"But Peter continued knocking: and when they had opened the door, and saw him, they were astonished." ()
"For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we be sober, it is for your cause." ()
The completed quotation from Psalms 58 supplies the comparison's subject. The passage compares wicked refusal to listen with an adder's deafness; it cannot be made a general account of supernatural power.
"Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear;" ()
"Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely." ()
The added G5332 and G5333 searches supplied only the already-fetched judgment texts. They add no definition beyond those settings.
"But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." ()
"For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie." ()
Ruled out
All of it is imaginary or only human pretence. That would make the narrator's spirit and its departure false. The event finding rests on narration, not just prohibitions.
"And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying:" ()
"And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour." ()
Every claimed occult power must therefore work, and a practitioner's words must be true. That would make the explicit false divination and the magicians' inability false.
"Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart." ()
"And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man, and upon beast." ()
A helpful intention, a sign, or true-sounding words make a forbidden source acceptable. The condemnation contains no such exception. Moses' conditional case expressly commands refusal even when the proposed sign comes to pass. That conditional is a rule for the case, not evidence that a particular event occurred. The girl's words about salvation also do not prevent the spirit's expulsion.
"For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee." ()
"If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder," ()
"And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;" ()
"Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul." ()
"The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation." ()
"And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour." ()
Witchcraft can override God's decision or control life and death independently. That would make Balaam's inability and God's own claim false.
"Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it." ()
"See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand." ()
Samuel's appearance approves consulting the dead. That would make the later interpretation of Saul's consultation false.
"So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, even against the word of the LORD, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it;" ()
The condemnation belongs only to an old law and has no bearing on following Christ. That would contradict Paul's classification and the judgment against sorcerers. Distinguishing covenants does not remove moral obligation.
"Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies," ()
"Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." ()
"But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." ()
God's superiority makes evil harmless, or guarantees that a faithful person cannot suffer. This would contradict the narrated injury by an evil spirit, the beating after Paul's command succeeded, and Peter's instruction concerning afflictions.
"And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded." ()
"And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:" ()
"Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world." ()
A causeless curse must take effect, or trouble proves that somebody has successfully cursed its sufferer. The first contradicts the proverb; the second reverses its direction and lacks support. The person disclosed no event to diagnose.
"As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come." ()
Every rebellious act is literally an occult ritual, or the rebuke to the Galatians proves that a spell was performed. Samuel's sentence is a comparison about rejecting God's word. Paul's rebuke concerns truth and the Spirit/flesh issue. Treating these words as a technical diagnosis adds a claim the passages do not make.
"For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king." ()
"O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?" ()
"Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?" ()
An accusation of witchcraft gives a reader authority for private punishment. This would make the commands against vengeance and for loving enemies false. Romans distinguishes the ruler's role; it does not make the reader a private executioner or specify a present witchcraft statute.
"Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." ()
"But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;" ()
"For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil." ()
Verdicts
Scripture condemns witchcraft and related practices, including seeking these sources of guidance. This is a firm moral finding, not a conclusion about the success of every attempt. Moses addresses Israel entering the land, and the LORD's command through Moses forbids seeking practitioners as well as practising.
"There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch," ()
"Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer." ()
"For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee." ()
"Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God." ()
The condemnation is also explicit in instruction to followers of Christ. It carries a serious kingdom warning. Paul identifies works of the flesh in contrast with the Spirit's fruit. The warning must be reported without applying a verdict about salvation to the person asking.
"Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness," ()
"Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies," ()
"Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." ()
Scripture reports actual spiritual activity connected with divination. An account that makes the whole subject imaginary is false. Acts 16 is narration, not merely the masters' belief about their servant. The spirit leaves at Paul's command in Jesus Christ's name. This establishes the narrated case; it does not establish that every practitioner has a spirit or that every prediction is accurate.
"And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying:" ()
"And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour." ()
Scripture also identifies false divination, deception, failed attempts, and limits. Therefore every claim of a working spell or curse must not be accepted merely because witchcraft is mentioned in Scripture. These passages do not diagnose a modern person or an unexplained event.
"Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart." ()
"And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived." ()
"And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man, and upon beast." ()
The power described is not independent of or equal to God. Balaam cannot reverse the blessing God has commanded, Babylon's counsellors cannot deliver themselves, and John assures his addressed children of God's greater power. The answer must retain each audience rather than promise the questioner an absence of suffering.
"Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it." ()
"Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it." ()
"Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world." ()
The instructed response is to seek God, test speech by his word, refuse the condemned practices, submit to God, and stand in faith and prayer. These are positive instructions, not a demand for a counter-spell.
"And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?" ()
"To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." ()
"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." ()
"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." ()
"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might." ()
"Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." ()
"And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:" ()
"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;" ()
If a response to involvement is mentioned, the record supports repentance, prayer, confession, and abandoning the practice, without declaring a person's fate. Peter's command to Simon concerns his wicked attempt to purchase God's gift; Acts 19 supplies the narrated abandonment of curious arts. The people bring their own books. The example does not authorize taking or burning another person's property.
"Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee." ()
"And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds." ()
"Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver." ()
"So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed." ()
The record also read Manasseh's humbling after witchcraft and his prayer being heard. This prevents turning the condemnation into an irreversible label. No assurance about the present questioner's spiritual standing is inferred.
"And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger." ()
"And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers," ()
"And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD he was God." ()
Israel's penal command must be acknowledged in its setting. It is not a private authorization for a reader to kill, harm, or persecute someone suspected of witchcraft. The record read the community-law setting, the covenant distinction, the command against personal vengeance, and Jesus' instruction toward enemies. It did not decide an entire contemporary penal code.
"And the LORD said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven." ()
"Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them." ()
"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." ()
"A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them." ()
"In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away." ()
"Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." ()
"But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;" ()
Open
The precise mechanism of the Egyptian enchantments is not specified in the gathered account. It reports their actions, results, and limits without explaining the technique or identifying a particular spirit behind them. A detailed natural technique and a detailed spiritual mechanism each require information this account does not give. The answer must preserve the reported events without inventing that information. This bounded finding is not a claim that the entire canon has been proved silent.
"Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments." ()
"For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods." ()
"And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man, and upon beast." ()
At Endor the account names Samuel, but does not establish a standing power in the woman to summon any dead person at will or explicitly attribute the appearance to a special intervention by the LORD. The request and words about being brought up keep an operative consultation in view; the reported appearance and cry do not state that the woman controlled it. Her next words identify Saul, so the cry alone cannot establish unprecedented surprise at a real apparition. The LORD's earlier refusal to answer by the named means does not identify the mechanism of what follows. Under either an appearance connected with an operative consultation or an exceptional appearance outside the woman's control, the account still reports Samuel and the consultation remains condemned. No conclusion about where Samuel or Saul is now belongs in the answer.
"And when Saul enquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets." ()
"And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee." ()
"And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul." ()
"And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do." ()
"So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, even against the word of the LORD, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it;" ()
The reading has not verified any current person's claim, alleged spell, or cause of misfortune. That is an absence of supplied circumstances and evidence, not a finding that Scripture is silent or that every such claim is true or false. No circumstance-dependent verdict is needed to answer the question as asked.
The record names 31 unread peripheral hits and explains their source-finding role. Main-topic searches and all the added word-index searches have no shown-but-unopened references. The answer must not claim exhaustive reading of the whole canon, independent checksum verification, or an empirical investigation of modern witchcraft.
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This was a question. Your matter is more than a question.
Before God weighs the real thing you are carrying against Scripture, and walks it with you.
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