Isaiah 8:19
And when they say to you, “Seek to those having familiar spirits, || And to wizards, who chatter and mutter,” || Does a people not seek to its God? To the dead on behalf of the living?
Literal Standard Version
In The King James Version
In Context
Cross References
Leviticus 19:31You do not turn to those having familiar spirits, and you do not seek for wizards, to become unclean by them; I [am] your God YHWH.
Deuteronomy 18:10There is not found in you one causing his son and his daughter to pass over into fire, a user of divinations, an observer of clouds, and an enchanter, and a sorcerer,
1 Samuel 28:7And Saul says to his servants, “Seek a woman for me possessing a familiar spirit, and I go to her, and inquire of her”; and his servants say to him, “Behold, a woman possessing a familiar spirit [is] in En-dor.”
1 Samuel 28:11And the woman says, “Whom do I bring up to you?” And he says, “Bring up Samuel to me.”
2 Kings 1:3And a messenger of YHWH has spoken to Elijah the Tishbite, “Rise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and speak to them, Is it because there is not a God in Israel—you are going to inquire of Ba‘al-Zebub god of Ekron?
2 Kings 23:24And also, those having familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the teraphim, and the idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah, and in Jerusalem, Josiah has put away, in order to establish the words of the Law that are written on the scroll that Hilkiah the priest has found in the house of YHWH.
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 8:17-22
The Importance of the Scriptures. ( b. c. 740.) 16 Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. 17 And I will wait upon the Lord , that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. 18 Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion. 19 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… Read the whole commentary →