Isaiah 8:19

Some people may urge you(pl) to ◄consult/go and talk with► those who talk with the spirits of dead people or with those who say that they receive messages from those spirits. They whisper and mutter about what we should do in the future. But God is [RHQ] the one whom we should ask to guide us! It is ridiculous [RHQ] for people who are alive to request spirits of dead people to tell us what we should do!

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

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?

In Context

18I and the children that Yahweh has given to me are like signs to warn the people of Israel; we are warnings from the Commander of the armies of angels the one who lives in his temple on Zion Hill in Jerusalem.

20Pay attention to God’s instructions and teaching! If people do not say things that agree with what God teaches us, what they say is worthless. It is as though those people are in darkness.

Read all of Isaiah 8

Cross References

Leviticus 19:31‘Do not seek advice from those who ◄consult/talk with► the spirits of dead people [DOU], because if you do that, they will defile you. I, Yahweh your God, am the one you should consult.

Deuteronomy 18:10You must not sacrifice any of your children by burning them on your altars. Do not practice ◄divination/using supernatural power to reveal what will happen in the future►. Do not do/practice ◄soothsaying/magic to find out what will happen in the future►. Do not ◄interpret omens/say that because of something that you have seen you know what will happen►. Do not practice sorcery/witchcraft. Do not practice ◄putting spells on people/saying things to cause bad things to happen to others►.

1 Samuel 28:7Then Saul said to his servants, “Find for me a woman who talks to the spirits of dead people, in order that I can ask her what will happen.” His servants replied, “There is a woman in Endor town who does that.”

1 Samuel 28:11Then the woman said, “Whom do you want me to cause to appear?” Saul replied, “Cause Samuel to appear.”

2 Kings 1:3But an angel from Yahweh said to Elijah, the prophet from Tishbe town, “The king of Samaria is sending some messengers to Ekron. Go and meet them and say to them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to Ekron to ask Baalzebub, the god of those people, whether you will recover?

2 Kings 23:24Furthermore, Josiah got rid of all the people in Jerusalem and other places in Judah who practiced sorcery and those who requested the spirits of dead people to tell them what they should do. He also removed from Jerusalem and from the other places in Judah all the household idols and all the other idols and abominable things. He did those things in order to obey what had been written in the scroll that Hilkiah had found in the temple.

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 →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Isaiah 8:19