Do not turn to the spirits of the dead and do not seek familiar spirits ¹  to become unclean by them. I am the Lord your God.

“‘The person who turns to the spirits of the dead and familiar spirits ²  to commit prostitution by going after them, I will set my face ³  against that person and cut him off from the midst of his people.

The Egyptians will panic, ¹  and I will confuse their strategy. ²  They will seek guidance from the idols and from the spirits of the dead, from the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, and from the magicians. ³ 

“Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all humankind, ¹  appoint ²  a man over the community,

one who casts spells, ¹  one who conjures up spirits, ²  a practitioner of the occult, ³  or a necromancer. ⁴ 

Do you accomplish amazing things for the dead? Do the departed spirits ¹  rise up and give you thanks? (Selah)

For her house ¹  sinks ²  down to death, and her paths lead ³  to the place of the departed spirits. ⁴ 

So Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord and did not obey the Lord’s instructions; he even tried to conjure up underworld spirits. ¹ 

The messenger replied, “These are the four spirits ¹  of heaven that have been presenting themselves before the Lord of all the earth.

Then they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground ¹  and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all people, ²  will you be angry with the whole community when only one man sins?” ³ 

The dead do not come back to life, the spirits of the dead do not rise. ¹  That is because ²  you came in judgment ³  and destroyed them, you wiped out all memory of them.

Look, my servants will shout for joy as happiness fills their hearts! ¹  But you will cry out as sorrow fills your hearts; ²  you will wail because your spirits will be crushed. ³ 

He passed his son ¹  through the fire ²  and practiced divination and omen reading. He set up a ritual pit to conjure up underworld spirits, and appointed magicians to supervise it. ³  He did a great amount of evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. ⁴ 

Josiah also got rid of ¹  the ritual pits used to conjure up spirits, ²  the magicians, personal idols, disgusting images, ³  and all the detestable idols that had appeared in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. In this way he carried out the terms of the law ⁴  recorded on the scroll that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the Lord’s temple.

He passed his sons through the fire ¹  in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom and practiced divination, omen reading, and sorcery. He set up a ritual pit to conjure up underworld spirits and appointed magicians to supervise it. ²  He did a great amount of evil in the sight of the Lord and angered him. ³ 

¹ They will say to you, “Seek oracles at the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, from the magicians who chirp and mutter incantations. ²  Should people not seek oracles from their gods, by asking the dead about the destiny of the living?” ³ 

Sheol ¹  below is stirred up about you, ready to meet you when you arrive. It rouses ²  the spirits of the dead for you, all the former leaders of the earth; ³  it makes all the former kings of the nations rise from their thrones. ⁴ 

¹ Your dead will come back to life; your corpses will rise up. Wake up and shout joyfully, you who live in the ground! ²  For you will grow like plants drenched with the morning dew, ³  and the earth will bring forth its dead spirits. ⁴