30 Bible Verses about Sorcery

Stand, now, in your enchantments, and in your many sorceries with which you have labored from your youth. Perhaps you may be able to benefit; perhaps you may {scare away}.

And they were paying attention to him because for a long time he had astonished them with [his] magic.

[There] shall not be found among you one who makes his son or his daughter go through the fire, [or] {one who practices divination}, [or] an interpreter of signs, or an augur, or sorcerer,

"Then I will approach you for judgment, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers, and against those who swear {falsely}, and against the oppressors of [the] hired worker [with his] wages, [the] widow and [the] orphan, and {the abusers of} [the] alien, and [yet] do not fear me," says Yahweh of hosts.

And these two shall come to you [in] a moment, in one day: [the] loss of children and widowhood shall come on you {completely}, in spite of your many sorceries, in spite of the power of your great enchantments.

And [when they] had crossed over the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a certain man, a magician, a Jewish false prophet whose name [was] Bar-Jesus,

They made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, they practiced divination and read omens, and they sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of Yahweh to provoke him.

[There] shall not be found among you one who makes his son or his daughter go through the fire, [or] {one who practices divination}, [or] an interpreter of signs, or an augur, or sorcerer,

"Then I will approach you for judgment, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers, and against those who swear {falsely}, and against the oppressors of [the] hired worker [with his] wages, [the] widow and [the] orphan, and {the abusers of} [the] alien, and [yet] do not fear me," says Yahweh of hosts.

And these two shall come to you [in] a moment, in one day: [the] loss of children and widowhood shall come on you {completely}, in spite of your many sorceries, in spite of the power of your great enchantments.

And [when they] had crossed over the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a certain man, a magician, a Jewish false prophet whose name [was] Bar-Jesus,

They made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, they practiced divination and read omens, and they sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of Yahweh to provoke him.

And you, you must not listen to your prophets, and to your diviners, and to your dreamers, and to your interpreters of signs, and to your sorcerers who are {saying}, 'You will not serve the king of Babylon.'

And Yahweh said to me, "The prophets [are] prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them, and I have not commanded them, and I have not spoken to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, and a divination, worthless, and the deceitfulness of their {minds}."

For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Do not let your prophets who [are] in your midst, and your diviners, deceive you, and you must not listen to your dreams that you [are] causing [them] to dream. For they [are] prophesying {falsely} to you in my name; I have not sent them,' {declares} Yahweh.

And for them its prophets plaster whitewash; [they are] seeing falseness and [are] practicing divination for them [by] lying, saying, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh,' and Yahweh has not spoken.

For false messiahs and false prophets will appear, and will produce great signs and wonders in order to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

And he himself burned his sons in the fire in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom. And he practiced sorcery and divination, and he engaged in witchcraft and dealt with mediums and spiritists. And he did much evil in the eyes of Yahweh, to provoke him to anger.

So Saul died on account of his sin which he had sinned against Yahweh concerning the command of Yahweh that he did not keep. He also consulted a medium to seek [guidance].

Now if they tell you, "Consult the ghosts and the spirits, those who chirp and those who mutter. Should not a people consult its gods, the dead on behalf of the living,

" 'And a man or a woman, if a spirit of the dead or a spirit of divination is in them, they shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones--their blood [is] on them.'"

And the spirit of {the Egyptians} will be disturbed in his midst, and I will {confuse} his plans, and they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead, and the ghosts and the spiritists.

So the king said to call the magicians and the conjurers and the sorcerers and the {astrologers} to tell to the king his dreams. And they came in and they stood {before} the king.

Daniel answered the king and said, "The mystery that the king asks, no wise men, conjurers, magicians, [or] diviners are able to make known to the king.

For the king of Babylon stands at the fork of the road at the head of the two roads to practice divination. {He shakes the arrows}, he inquires with the teraphim, he {examines} the liver. In his right hand is the divination for Jerusalem, to put [up] battering rams, to open mouth for slaughter, {to raise the battle cry}, to put [up] battering rams against gates, to build a siege ramp, to build siege works.

And these two shall come to you [in] a moment, in one day: [the] loss of children and widowhood shall come on you {completely}, in spite of your many sorceries, in spite of the power of your great enchantments. And you felt secure in your wickedness; you said, "{No one} sees me." Your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray, and you said in your heart, "I [am], and besides me [there is] no one." And evil shall come upon you, you will not know; it will be on the lookout for her. And disaster shall fall upon you; you will not be able to {avert} it. And ruin shall come on you suddenly; you do not know. read more.
Stand, now, in your enchantments, and in your many sorceries with which you have labored from your youth. Perhaps you may be able to benefit; perhaps you may {scare away}. You struggle with your many consultations; let them stand, now, and save you-- those who see the stars, divide [the] {celestial sphere}, who inform by new moons-- from [those things] that are coming upon you.

The {astrologers} answered the king and said, "There is not a man on earth that is able to reveal the word of the king; {in fact}, no great and powerful king has [ever] asked a thing like this of any magician or conjurer or {astrologer}.

" 'You shall not turn to the mediums and to the soothsayers; you shall not seek [them] to become unclean with them; I [am] Yahweh your God.

As for the person who turns to the mediums and the soothsayers to prostitute after them, I will set my face against that person, and I will cut him off from the midst of his people.

"When you come to the land that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you, you must not learn to do like the detestable practices of those nations. [There] shall not be found among you one who makes his son or his daughter go through the fire, [or] {one who practices divination}, [or] an interpreter of signs, or an augur, or sorcerer, or one who casts magic spells, or one who consults spirit of the dead, or spiritist, or one who inquires of the dead. read more.
For everyone doing these [things] [is] detestable to Yahweh, and because of these detestable things Yahweh your God [is] driving them out from {before you}. You must be blameless before Yahweh your God. For these nations that you [are] about to dispossess listen to interpreters of signs and to diviners, but Yahweh your God has not allowed you to do the same.

" 'You must not eat [anything] with the blood; you shall not practice divination, nor shall you interpret signs. You shall not round off the corner [hair] of your head, and you shall not trim the corner of your beard. And you shall not make a slash in your body for a dead person, nor shall you make on yourselves a tattoo's mark; I [am] Yahweh.

Now, please go, curse this people for me because they [are] stronger than me; perhaps I will be able to strike them and drive them out from the land because I know whoever you bless [is] blessed, and whoever you cursed is cursed."

Because [there is] no sorcery against Jacob, and [there is] no divination against Israel. Now it will be said to Jacob and Israel, what God has done!

Therefore falseness you will not see, and divination you will not practice any longer, and I will rescue my people from your hand, and you will know that I [am] Yahweh!'"

And I will cut off sorceries from your hand, and you will not have soothsayers.

Therefore say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "I will put an end [to] this proverb, and they will not quote it as a proverb again in Israel." ' But say to them, 'The days are near, and [also] the word of every vision.' For [there] will not be any longer {any false vision} or flattering divination in the midst of the house of Israel.

Because the household gods speak deceit, and those who practice divination see a lie, and the dreamers of vanity speak in vain. Therefore [the people] wander like sheep; they are afflicted because there is no shepherd.

whose coming is in accordance with the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders,

when seeing a false vision for you in vain, when practicing divination for you falsely, to give you on [the] neck of [the] profane ones of [the] wicked, {whose day has come}, {the time of final punishment}.

" 'You will not let a witch live.

" 'And a man or a woman, if a spirit of the dead or a spirit of divination is in them, they shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones--their blood [is] on them.'"

But that prophet or the dreamer of that dream shall be executed, for he spoke falsely about Yahweh your God, the [one] bringing you out from the land of Egypt and the [one] redeeming you from the house of slavery, in order to seduce you from the way that Yahweh your God commanded you to go in it; so [in this way] you shall purge the evil from your midst.

For the king of Babylon stands at the fork of the road at the head of the two roads to practice divination. {He shakes the arrows}, he inquires with the teraphim, he {examines} the liver.

Moreover, the mediums and the spiritists, the household gods and the idols, and all of the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, Josiah removed in order to establish the words of the law written on the scroll that Hilkiah the priest had found [in] the temple of Yahweh.

Therefore [it will be as] night to you, without vision, and darkness to you, without divination. And the sun will set on the prophets, and the day will grow dark over them. Then the seers will be disgraced, and those practicing divination will be put to shame. All of them will cover their lips, for there is no reply from God.

Thus says Yahweh: "You must not learn the way of the nations, and you must not be dismayed by the signs of the heavens, for the nations are dismayed by them.

And Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did likewise with their secret arts.

And the magicians did likewise with their secret arts, and they brought up frogs over the land of Egypt.

And the magicians of Egypt did likewise with their secret arts, and Pharaoh's heart was hard, and he did not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken.

And the magicians did so with their secret arts to bring out the gnats, but they were not able, and the gnats were on the humans and on the animals.

"Then I will approach you for judgment, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers, and against those who swear {falsely}, and against the oppressors of [the] hired worker [with his] wages, [the] widow and [the] orphan, and {the abusers of} [the] alien, and [yet] do not fear me," says Yahweh of hosts.

Now if they tell you, "Consult the ghosts and the spirits, those who chirp and those who mutter. Should not a people consult its gods, the dead on behalf of the living,

And the spirit of {the Egyptians} will be disturbed in his midst, and I will {confuse} his plans, and they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead, and the ghosts and the spiritists.

Surely the princes of Zoan [are] foolish; the wise of the counselors of Pharaoh [give] senseless counsel. How can you say to Pharaoh, "I myself [am] a son of sages, a {descendant} of ancient kings"? Where [are] your sages then? Now, let them tell you, and let them know what Yahweh of hosts has planned against Egypt.

(Now seven sons of a certain Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.) But the evil spirit answered [and] said to them, "Jesus I know, and Paul I am acquainted with, but who are you?"

So Saul said to his servants, "Search for me {a woman who is a medium} so that I may go to her and inquire of her." His servants said to him, "Look [there is] a woman who [is] a medium in Endor." So Saul disguised himself and put on other clothes, and he went {with two of his men}. And they came to the woman [by] night and he said, "Please consult a spirit for me through {the ritual pit}, and bring up for me [the one] whom I tell you." But the woman said to him, "Look, you know what Saul did, how he exterminated the mediums and the soothsayers from the land! Why [are] you setting a trap for my life to kill me?" read more.
Then Saul swore to her by Yahweh, "{As Yahweh lives}, {you will not be punished} for this thing." So the woman asked, "Whom shall I bring up for you?" He said, "Bring up Samuel for me." When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice, and the woman said to Saul, "Why did you deceive me? You [are] Saul!" The king said to her, "Do not be afraid! What do you see?" And the woman said to Saul, "I see a god coming up from the ground!" Then he said to her, "What [is] his appearance?" She said, "An old man [is] coming up, and {he is wrapped in a robe}." Then Saul realized that it was Samuel, and he knelt [with] his face to the ground and bowed down. Then Samuel said to Saul, "Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?" And Saul said, "{I am in distress}! For [the] Philistines [are about] to make war against me, but God has turned away from me, and he does not answer me any more, not {by the prophets} or by the dreams. So I called to you to let me know what I should do." Then Samuel said, "Why do you ask me, since Yahweh has turned away from you and has become your enemy? Yahweh has done to you just as he spoke by my hand! Yahweh has torn the kingdom from your hand and has given it to your neighbor, to David. Because you {did not obey} Yahweh and did not carry out the fierce anger of his {wrath} against Amalek, therefore Yahweh has done this thing to you today. And Yahweh will also give Israel with you into the hands of [the] Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons [will be] with me, and Yahweh will also give the army of Israel into [the] hand of [the] Philistines." {Then Saul immediately fell prostrate} to the ground, and he was very afraid because of the words of Samuel; there was no more strength in him, for he had not eaten food all day and all night. Then the woman came to Saul and realized that he was absolutely terrified, so she said to him, "Look, your female servant {has obeyed you}, and I have {risked my life}. I have listened to your words that you have spoken to me. So then, you also please listen to the voice of your female servant, and let me set before you a morsel of bread, and [you] eat so that {you will have strength} in you when you go on your way." But he refused and said, "I will not eat!" However, his servants urged him, and the woman also. So he listened {to what they said}, and he got up from the ground and sat on the bed. Now the woman had a fattened bull calf in the house, {so she quickly slaughtered it} and took flour, kneaded [dough], and baked him [some] unleavened bread. She brought it before Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they got up and went away that [very] night.

Now a certain man {named} Simon had been in the city practicing magic and astonishing the people of Samaria, saying he was someone great.

The king cried {aloud} to bring [in] the conjurers, the {astrologers} and the diviners; the king {spoke} and said to [the] wise men of Babylon, "Any man that can read this writing and can tell me its explanation will be clothed [in] purple and [will have] necklace of gold [hung] around his neck and he will rule [as] third [in authority] in the kingdom."

And now the wise men [and] the conjurers were brought in before me [so] that they could read this writing [in order to] make its explanation known to me, but they were not able to disclose the explanation of the matter.

For the king of Babylon stands at the fork of the road at the head of the two roads to practice divination. {He shakes the arrows}, he inquires with the teraphim, he {examines} the liver.

who frustrates [the] signs of oracle priests and makes a fool of diviners, who drives [the] wise men back and makes their knowledge foolish,

For rebellion [is like] the sin of divination; arrogance [is like] iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of Yahweh, he has rejected you from [being] king!"

And it happened that [as] we were going to the place of prayer, a certain female slave who had a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing a large profit to her owners [by] fortune-telling.

But some itinerant Jewish exorcists also attempted to pronounce the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, "I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches!"

"Because of the many idolatries of [the] prostitute, the beautiful charm [of] a mistress of witchcraft, she who enslaves nations by her harlotries, and peoples by her sorceries, "Look! I am against you!" {declares}Yahweh. "I will strip up your skirts over your face; I will let nations look [at] your nakedness and your shame.

When Joram saw Jehu, he asked, "[Is it] peace?" And he said, "What peace [is there] while the prostitutions of your mother Jezebel and her sorceries are numerous?"

and many of those who practiced magic brought together [their] books [and] burned [them] up in the sight of everyone. And they counted up their value and found [it was] {fifty thousand silver coins}.

But Elymas the magician (for his name is translated in this way) opposed them, attempting to turn the proconsul away from the faith.

idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, factions,

Then the seers will be disgraced, and those practicing divination will be put to shame. All of them will cover their lips, for there is no reply from God.

My people, consult {their wooden idols}, and their divining rod gives them oracles; because a spirit of whoredom led [them] astray, and they played the whore from under their God.