"Do not eat any meat with blood still in it. Do not practice any kind of magic.

"Do not go for advice to people who consult the spirits of the dead. If you do, you will be ritually unclean. I am the LORD your God.

"If any of you go for advice to people who consult the spirits of the dead, I will turn against you and will no longer consider you one of my people.

"Any man or woman who consults the spirits of the dead shall be stoned to death; any of you that do this are responsible for your own death."

Don't sacrifice your children in the fires on your altars; and don't let your people practice divination or look for omens or use spells

or charms, and don't let them consult the spirits of the dead.

Now Samuel had died, and all the Israelites had mourned for him and had buried him in his hometown of Ramah. Saul had forced all the fortunetellers and mediums to leave Israel.

The woman answered, "Surely you know what King Saul has done, how he forced the fortunetellers and mediums to leave Israel. Why, then, are you trying to trap me and get me killed?"

I am going to frustrate the plans of the Egyptians and destroy their morale. They will ask their idols to help them, and they will go and consult mediums and ask the spirits of the dead for advice.

A man named Simon lived there, who for some time had astounded the Samaritans with his magic. He claimed that he was someone great,

They paid this attention to him because for such a long time he had astonished them with his magic.

One day as we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a young servant woman who had an evil spirit that enabled her to predict the future. She earned a lot of money for her owners by telling fortunes.

She did this for many days, until Paul became so upset that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I order you to come out of her!" The spirit went out of her that very moment.

Many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in public. They added up the price of the books, and the total came to fifty thousand silver coins.

in worship of idols and witchcraft. People become enemies and they fight; they become jealous, angry, and ambitious. They separate into parties and groups;

But outside the city are the perverts and those who practice magic, the immoral and the murderers, those who worship idols and those who are liars both in words and deeds.