Divination
45 passages listed in Nave’s Topical Bible and Torrey’s New Topical Textbook. Verse text: Berean Standard Bible; links open in your translation.
39 sections
- A System of Fraud
- All Who Practised It, Abominable
- An Abominable Practice
- Could not Injure the Lord's People
- Effected Through: A Lucrative Employment
- Effected Through: Books of, Numerous and Expensive
- Effected Through: Connected with Idolatry
- Effected Through: Cups
- Effected Through: Dreams
- Effected Through: Enchantments
- Effected Through: Inspecting the Inside of Beasts
- Effected Through: Observing Heavenly Bodies
- Effected Through: Observing Times
- Effected Through: Raising the Dead
- Effected Through: Rods
- Effected Through: Sorcery
- Effected Through: The Flight of Arrows
- Frustrated by God
- Practised by Astrologers
- Practised by Charmers
- Practised by Consulters of Familiar Spirits
- Practised by Diviners
- Practised by Enchanters
- Practised by False Prophets
- Practised by Magicians
- Practised by Necromancers
- Practised by Soothsayers
- Practised by Sorcerers
- Practised by Witches
- Practised by Wizards
- The Jews Prone To
- The Law: Forbade Seeking To
- The Law: Forbade to the Israelites the Practice of
- The Law: Punished Those Who Sought To
- The Law: Punished with Death Those Who Used
- Those Who Practised used Mysterious Words and Gestures
- Those Who Practised: Consulted in Difficulties
- Those Who Practised: Regarded As Wise Men
- Those Who Practised: Regarded with Awe
A System of Fraud
- Ezekiel 13:6–7 They see false visions and speak lying divinations. They claim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ when the LORD did not send them; yet they wait for the fulfillment of their message. …
- Jeremiah 29:8 For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Do not be deceived by the prophets and diviners among you, and do not listen to the dreams you elicit from them.
All Who Practised It, Abominable
- Deuteronomy 18:12 For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD. And because of these detestable things, the LORD your God is driving out the nations before you.
An Abominable Practice
- 1 Samuel 15:23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance is like the wickedness of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has rejected you as king.”
Could not Injure the Lord's People
- Numbers 23:23 For there is no spell against Jacob and no divination against Israel. It will now be said of Jacob and Israel, ‘What great things God has done!’
Effected Through: A Lucrative Employment
- Numbers 22:7 The elders of Moab and Midian departed with the fees for divination in hand. They came to Balaam and relayed to him the words of Balak.
- Acts 16:16 One day as we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl with a spirit of divination, who earned a large income for her masters by fortune-telling.
Effected Through: Books of, Numerous and Expensive
- Acts 19:19 And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books and burned them in front of everyone. When the value of the books was calculated, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas.
Effected Through: Connected with Idolatry
- 2 Chronicles 33:5–6 In both courtyards of the house of the LORD, he built altars to all the host of heaven. …
Effected Through: Cups
- Genesis 44:2 Put my cup, the silver one, in the mouth of the youngest one’s sack, along with the silver for his grain.” So the steward did as Joseph had instructed.
- Genesis 44:5 Is this not the cup my master drinks from and uses for divination? What you have done is wicked!’”
Effected Through: Dreams
- Jeremiah 29:8 For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Do not be deceived by the prophets and diviners among you, and do not listen to the dreams you elicit from them.
- Zechariah 10:2 For idols speak deceit and diviners see illusions; they tell false dreams and offer empty comfort. Therefore the people wander like sheep, oppressed for lack of a shepherd.
Effected Through: Enchantments
- Exodus 7:11 But Pharaoh called the wise men and sorcerers and magicians of Egypt, and they also did the same things by their magic arts.
- Numbers 24:1 And when Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he did not seek omens as on previous occasions, but he turned his face toward the wilderness.
Effected Through: Inspecting the Inside of Beasts
- Ezekiel 21:21 For the king of Babylon stands at the fork in the road, at the junction of the two roads, to seek an omen: He shakes the arrows, he consults the idols, he examines the liver.
Effected Through: Observing Heavenly Bodies
- Isaiah 37:13 Where are the kings of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”
Effected Through: Observing Times
- 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.
Effected Through: Raising the Dead
- 1 Samuel 28:11–12 “Whom shall I bring up for you?” the woman asked. “Bring up Samuel,” he replied. …
Effected Through: Rods
- Hosea 4:12 My people consult their wooden idols, and their divining rods inform them. For a spirit of prostitution leads them astray and they have played the harlot against their God.
Effected Through: Sorcery
- Isaiah 47:12 So take your stand with your spells and with your many sorceries, with which you have wearied yourself from your youth. Perhaps you will succeed; perhaps you will inspire terror!
- Acts 8:11 They paid close attention to him because he had astounded them for a long time with his sorcery.
Effected Through: The Flight of Arrows
- Ezekiel 21:21–22 For the king of Babylon stands at the fork in the road, at the junction of the two roads, to seek an omen: He shakes the arrows, he consults the idols, he examines the liver. …
Frustrated by God
- Isaiah 44:25 who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who confounds the wise and turns their knowledge into nonsense,
Practised by Astrologers
- Isaiah 47:13 You are wearied by your many counselors; let them come forward now and save you— your astrologers who observe the stars, who monthly predict your fate.
- Daniel 4:7 When the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and diviners came in, I told them the dream, but they could not interpret it for me.
Practised by Charmers
- Deuteronomy 18:11 casts spells, consults a medium or spiritist, or inquires of the dead.
Practised by Consulters of Familiar Spirits
- Deuteronomy 18:11 casts spells, consults a medium or spiritist, or inquires of the dead.
Practised by Diviners
- Deuteronomy 18:14 Though these nations, which you will dispossess, listen to conjurers and diviners, the LORD your God has not permitted you to do so.
Practised by Enchanters
- 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,
- Jeremiah 27:9 But as for you, do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your interpreters of dreams, your mediums, or your sorcerers who declare, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’
Practised by False Prophets
- Jeremiah 14:14 “The prophets are prophesying lies in My name,” replied the LORD. “I did not send them or appoint them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, a worthless divination, the futility and delusion of their own minds.
- Ezekiel 13:3 This is what the Lord GOD says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit yet have seen nothing.
- Ezekiel 13:6 They see false visions and speak lying divinations. They claim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ when the LORD did not send them; yet they wait for the fulfillment of their message.
Practised by Magicians
- Genesis 41:8 In the morning his spirit was troubled, so he summoned all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him.
- Daniel 4:7 When the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and diviners came in, I told them the dream, but they could not interpret it for me.
Practised by Necromancers
- Deuteronomy 18:11 casts spells, consults a medium or spiritist, or inquires of the dead.
Practised by Soothsayers
- Isaiah 2:6 For You have abandoned Your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled with influences from the east; they are soothsayers like the Philistines; they strike hands with the children of foreigners.
- Daniel 2:27 Daniel answered the king, “No wise man, enchanter, medium, or magician can explain to the king the mystery of which he inquires.
Practised by Sorcerers
- Jeremiah 27:9 But as for you, do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your interpreters of dreams, your mediums, or your sorcerers who declare, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’
- Acts 13:6 They traveled through the whole island as far as Paphos, where they found a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus,
- Acts 13:8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith.
Practised by Witches
- Exodus 22:18 You must not allow a sorceress to live.
- 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,
Practised by Wizards
- Deuteronomy 18:11 casts spells, consults a medium or spiritist, or inquires of the dead.
- 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.
The Jews Prone To
- 2 Kings 17:17 They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire and practiced divination and soothsaying. They devoted themselves to doing evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.
- Isaiah 2:6 For You have abandoned Your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled with influences from the east; they are soothsayers like the Philistines; they strike hands with the children of foreigners.
The Law: Forbade Seeking To
- 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.
- Deuteronomy 18:14 Though these nations, which you will dispossess, listen to conjurers and diviners, the LORD your God has not permitted you to do so.
The Law: Forbade to the Israelites the Practice of
- Leviticus 19:26 You must not eat anything with blood still in it. You must not practice divination or sorcery.
- Deuteronomy 18:10–11 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, practices divination or conjury, interprets omens, practices sorcery, …
The Law: Punished Those Who Sought To
- 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.
The Law: Punished with Death Those Who Used
- Exodus 22:18 You must not allow a sorceress to live.
- 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.’”
Those Who Practised used Mysterious Words and Gestures
- 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?
Those Who Practised: Consulted in Difficulties
- Daniel 2:2 So the king gave orders to summon the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers to explain his dreams. When they came and stood before the king,
- Daniel 4:6–7 So I issued a decree that all the wise men of Babylon be brought before me to interpret the dream for me. …
Those Who Practised: Regarded As Wise Men
- Daniel 2:12 This response made the king so angry and furious that he gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
- Daniel 2:27 Daniel answered the king, “No wise man, enchanter, medium, or magician can explain to the king the mystery of which he inquires.
Those Who Practised: Regarded with Awe
Related topics
SorceryFamiliar SpiritsWitchcraft
Topics: Nave’s Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey’s New Topical Textbook (1897), public domain, via the Berean Bible topical index.