What are verses about witchcraft and sorcery?

Some Bible Verses About Witchcraft and Sorcery

This section presents several Bible verses from the New King James Version (NKJV) that discuss witchcraft and sorcery, along with similar practices. These scriptures serve as warnings against such activities and emphasize God’s disapproval of them:

Key Verses

Exodus 22:18 – “You shall not permit a sorceress to live.”

Leviticus 19:31 – “Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.”

Leviticus 20:6 – “And the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from his people.”

Leviticus 20:27 – “A man or a woman who is a medium, or who has familiar spirits, shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones. Their blood shall be upon them.”

Deuteronomy 18:10-12 – “There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you.”

1 Samuel 15:23 – “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.”

2 Kings 21:6 – “Also he made his son pass through the fire, practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft, and consulted spiritists and mediums. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger.”

2 Chronicles 33:6 – “Also he caused his sons to pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom; he practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger.”

Isaiah 8:19 – “And when they say to you, ‘Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,’ should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living?”

Isaiah 19:3 – “The spirit of Egypt will fail in its midst; I will destroy their counsel, and they will consult the idols and the charmers, the mediums and the sorcerers.”

Isaiah 47:12-13 – “Stand now with your enchantments and the multitude of your sorceries, in which you have labored from your youth: perhaps you will be able to profit, perhaps you will prevail. You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels; let now the astrologers, the stargazers, and the monthly prognosticators stand up and save you from what shall come upon you.”

Jeremiah 27:9 – “Therefore do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your soothsayers, or your sorcerers, who speak to you, saying, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon.’”

Micah 5:12 – “I will cut off sorceries from your hand, and you shall have no soothsayers.”

Nahum 3:4 – “Because of the multitude of harlotries of the seductive harlot, the mistress of sorceries, who sells nations through her harlotries, and families through her sorceries.”

Malachi 3:5 – “And I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness against sorcerers, against adulterers, against perjurers, against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, and against those who turn away an alien: because they do not fear Me,” says the Lord of hosts.”

Acts 8:9-11 – “But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great, to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, ‘This man is the great power of God.’ And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his sorceries for a long time.”

Acts 13:6-8 – “Now when they had gone through the island to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus, who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man called for Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. But Elymas the sorcerer (for so his name is translated) withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.”

Galatians 5:19-21 – “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Revelation 9:21 – “And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.”

Revelation 18:23 – “The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived.”

Revelation 21:8 – “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

Revelation 22:15 – “But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.”

These verses clearly indicate that witchcraft, sorcery, and divination are strongly condemned throughout the Bible. Engaging in such practices is viewed as rebellion against God and carries severe consequences.

The consistent message across these scriptures is that God desires His followers to seek Him alone for guidance and wisdom, rather than turning to forbidden practices that lead to spiritual destruction.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Bible consistently condemns witchcraft, sorcery, divination, consulting mediums, attempting to communicate with the dead, and other occult practices. Such activities turn people away from God, expose them to spiritual deception, and are described as rebellion and idolatry.

Both the Old and New Testaments warn that those who persist in these practices without repentance will face God’s judgment and will not inherit His kingdom. Christians should therefore reject every form of the occult and seek wisdom, guidance, protection, and spiritual power from God alone through prayer and His Word.