Bible Strands
Leviticus 19:31
You must not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out, or you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Yahweh addresses Israel through the Mosaic covenant, placing this command between instructions to honor the Sabbath and sanctuary and to respect the elderly.
The words — The text commands תִּפְנ֤וּ (tif.Nu) "you turn" and תְּבַקְשׁ֖וּ (te.vak.Shu) "you seek" regarding הָ/אֹבֹת֙ (ha./'o.Vot) "necromancers" and הַ/יִּדְּעֹנִ֔ים (hai./yi.de.'o.Nim) "soothsayers."
The thread — This prohibition appears in Isaiah 8:19, which contrasts consulting such figures with consulting God, and recurs in Leviticus 20:6 and Leviticus 20:27, where only the latter specifies the death penalty for practitioners.
Why it lands — The text states that seeking these figures results in defilement and closes with "I am the LORD your God," demanding exclusive reliance on divine authority rather than occult intermediaries.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 8:19 When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists who whisper and mutter, shouldn’t a people consult their God instead? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?
- Leviticus 20:27 A man or a woman who is a medium or spiritist must surely be put to death. They shall be stoned; their blood is upon them.’”
- Leviticus 20:6 Whoever turns to mediums or spiritists to prostitute himself with them, I will also set My face against that person and cut him off from his people.
- 2 Chronicles 33:6 He sacrificed his sons in the fire in the Valley of Ben-hinnom. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.
- Deuteronomy 18:10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, practices divination or conjury, interprets omens, practices sorcery,
- 2 Kings 21:6 He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.
- 1 Chronicles 10:13 So Saul died for his unfaithfulness to the LORD, because he did not keep the word of the LORD and even consulted a medium for guidance,
- 1 Samuel 28:3 Now by this time Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had removed the mediums and spiritists from the land.
- Revelation 21:8 But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.”
- Exodus 22:18 You must not allow a sorceress to live.