3 The people of Egypt will be confused. The people will ask their false gods and wise men what they should do. The people will ask their wizards and magicians. But their advice will be worthless.”
3 And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.
3 And the spirit of the Egyptians within them will become exhausted and emptied out and will fail, and I will destroy their counsel and confound their plans; and they will seek counsel from the idols and the sorcerers, and from those having familiar spirits (the mediums) and the wizards.
3 And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst of it; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek unto the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.
3 And the spirit of Egypt will be ruptured to its very core. And I will cast down their plan violently. And they will seek answers from their false images, and their diviners, and those led by demons, and their seers.
Some people say, “Ask the fortune tellers and wizards what to do.” (These fortune tellers and wizards whisper and make sounds like birds \{to make people think that they know secret things\}.) \{But I tell you that\} people should ask their God \{for help\}! Those fortune tellers and wizards ask dead people what to do. Why should living people ask something from the dead?
So the king called his wise men to come to him. Those men used magic tricks and they watched the stars. They did this to try to interpret dreams and to learn what will happen in the future. The king wanted those men to tell him what he had dreamed. So they came in and stood in front of the king.
Saul died because he was not faithful to the Lord. Saul did not obey the Lord’s word. Saul also went to a medium {\cf2\super [108]} and asked her for advice
The king called for the men of magic and Chaldeans {\cf2\super [53]} to be brought to him. He said to these wise men, “I will give a reward to any man that can read this writing and explain to me what it means. I will give purple clothes {\cf2\super [54]} to that man. I will put a gold chain around his neck, and I will make him the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”
Then they will ask you, ‘Why are you making these sad sounds?’ Then you must say, ‘Because of the sad news that is coming. Every heart will melt with fear. All hands will become weak. Every spirit will become weak. All knees will be like water.’ Look, that bad news is coming. These things will happen!” The Lord my Master said these things.
I will not continue fighting forever.\par I will not always be angry.\par If I continued to be angry,\par then man’s spirit\par —the life I gave them—\par would die in front of me.\par
You worked hard all your life\par learning tricks and magic.\par So, start using your tricks and magic!\par Maybe those tricks will help you.\par Maybe you will be able to scare someone.\par
False prophets {\cf2\super [397]} tell lies, but the Lord shows their lies are false. The Lord makes foolish people of the men that do magic. The Lord confuses even wise men. They think they know much, but the Lord makes them look foolish.
The sad message about Egypt: Look! The Lord is coming on a fast cloud. The Lord will enter Egypt, and all the false gods of Egypt will shake \{with fear. Egypt was brave\}, but that courage will melt away like hot wax.
The king’s family and the people\par of Dibon {\cf2\super [158]} \par are going to the places of worship {\cf2\super [159]} to cry.\par The people of Moab are crying\par for Nebo {\cf2\super [160]} and Medeba. {\cf2\super [161]} \par The people shaved their heads and beards\par \{to show they are sad\}.\par
Ahithophel saw that the Israelites did not accept his advice. Ahithophel put a saddle on his donkey and went back to his home town. He made plans for his family and then he hanged himself. After Ahithophel died, the people buried him in his father’s tomb. [101]
Absalom and all the Israelites said, “The advice of Hushai the Arkite is better than Ahithophel’s advice.” {They said this} because it was the Lord’s plan. The Lord had planned to make Ahithophel’s good advice useless. That is how the Lord would punish Absalom.
A person told David, “Ahithophel is one of the people who made plans with Absalom.” Then David prayed, “Lord, I ask you to make Ahithophel’s advice useless.”
Every time the king asked them about something important, they showed much wisdom and understanding. The king found they were ten times better than all the magic men and wise men in his kingdom.
One day, Ahaziah was on the roof [1] of his house in Samaria. Ahaziah fell down through the wooden bars on top of his house. He was hurt very badly. Ahaziah called messengers and told them, “Go to {the priests of} Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron. Ask them if I will get well from my injuries.”