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?

Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king.

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}; {committed: Heb. transgressed}

That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise {men} backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish;

{There is} no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD.

Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the LORD have spoken {it}, and will do {it}.

But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became {as} a stone.

For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls {which} I have made.

Therefore made I a decree to bring in all the wise {men} of Babylon before me, that they might make known unto me the interpretation of the dream.

Why are thy valiant {men} swept away? they stood not, because the LORD did drive them.

And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite {is} better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For the LORD had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom. {appointed: Heb. commanded}

He shall cut off the spirit of princes: {he is} terrible to the kings of the earth.

And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore sighest thou? that thou shalt answer, For the tidings; because it cometh: and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak {as} water: behold, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord GOD. {shall be weak...: Heb. shall go into water}

And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled {his} ass, and arose, and gat him home to his house, to his city, and put his household in order, and hanged himself, and died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father. {followed: Heb. done} {put his...: Heb. gave charge concerning his house}

And it came to pass, as he talked with him, that {the king} said unto him, Art thou made of the king's counsel? forbear; why shouldest thou be smitten? Then the prophet forbare, and said, I know that God hath determined to destroy thee, because thou hast done this, and hast not hearkened unto my counsel. {determined: Heb. counselled}

He is gone up to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep: Moab shall howl over Nebo, and over Medeba: on all their heads {shall be} baldness, {and} every beard cut off.

He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform {their} enterprise. {their enterprise: or, any thing}

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.

They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end. {are...: Heb. all their wisdom is swallowed up}

The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.

For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul {it}? and his hand {is} stretched out, and who shall turn it back?

The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. {And} the king spake, and said to the wise {men} of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and shew me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and {have} a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. {aloud: Chaldee, with might} {scarlet: or, purple}

Surely the princes of Zoan {are} fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I {am} the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?

And {one} told David, saying, Ahithophel {is} among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O LORD, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.

For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.

The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect. {bringeth: Heb. maketh frustrate}

He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform {their} enterprise. {their enterprise: or, any thing}

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?

For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.

Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.

Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, {even} a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise {men} shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent {men} shall be hid. {proceed: Heb. add}

They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end. {are...: Heb. all their wisdom is swallowed up}

And {one} told David, saying, Ahithophel {is} among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O LORD, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.

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. {witchcraft: Heb. divination}

And in all matters of wisdom {and} understanding, that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians {and} astrologers that {were} in all his realm. {wisdom...: Heb. wisdom of understanding}

Surely the princes of Zoan {are} fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I {am} the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?

And his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity: and {there shall be} a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing {them} to err.

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 it shall come to pass at that day, saith the LORD, {that} the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.

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.

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. {images: or, teraphim}

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.

Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and enquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, {there is} a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor.

Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely. {charming...: or, be the charmer never so cunning}

This dream I king Nebuchadnezzar have seen. Now thou, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation thereof, forasmuch as all the wise {men} of my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the interpretation: but thou {art} able; for the spirit of the holy gods {is} in thee.

Shall I not in that day, saith the LORD, even destroy the wise {men} out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau?

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;

Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king.

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.