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63 Verses on God's Rejection of Occult Practices
Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after Ovos (Mediums) and Yidonim (Spiritists), to be defiled by them: I am Hashem Eloheichem.
And the nefesh that turneth to Ovos (Mediums) and Yidonim (Spiritists), to go a-whoring after them, I will even set My face against that nefesh, and will cut him off from among his people.
No, the things which they sacrifice, YIZB'CHU LASHEDIM LO ELOHIM (They sacrificed to demons which were not G-d). Now I do not want you to become sharers with the shedim (demons).
You are not able to drink from the Kos of Hashem and also from the Kos HaShedim; you are not able to partake of the shulchan of Hashem and the shulchan of shedim (demons).
Kol shochev (every one having sexual relations) with a behemah shall surely be put to death.
Now the ma'asei habasar are manifest, dehainu (being): zenut (fornication), tum'ah (impurity), zimmah (licentiousness),
Avodah zarah (idolatry), kashefanut (sorcery, witchcraft), eivot (enmities), merivah (strife), kinah (jealousy), rogez (anger), anochiyut (selfishness), machalokot (dissensions), kitot (sects),
But for those of morech lev (cowardliness) and those without emunah (faith) and the ones having become vile and ratzchaniyot (murderers) and zonim (fornicators) and mekhashfim (sorcerers) and ovdei haelilim (idolaters) and all the shakranit (liars), their chelek will be in the Agam (Lake) burning with Eish (fire) and Gofrit (sulfur), which is HaMavet HaSheyni (the Second Death).”
And a number of the ones who had practiced kishshuf (magic, sorcery) brought together their occult sfarim and were burning them publicly; and they added up the price of these occult sfarim, and they found it to be fifty thousand silver pieces.
They sacrificed unto shedim (demons), not to G-d; to elohim whom they knew not, to chadashim (new g-ds), new arrivals, whom Avoteichem feared not.
An ish also or isha who is an Ov (Medium) or a Yidoni (Spiritist), shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones; their dahm shall be upon them.
There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his ben or his bat to pass through the eish or kosem kesamim (a diviner of divination) or a m'onen (soothsayer, astrologer), or a m'nachesh (one who interprets omens), or a mekhashshef (witch).
Or one who casts spells, or one who inquires of a ghost or a familiar spirit, or a doresh el hamesim (a consulter of the dead ones, i.e., a necromancer).
For all that do these things are a to'avat Hashem; and because of these to'evot, Hashem Eloheicha is about to drive them out before thee.
No one is able to serve two adonim (masters). For either he will have sinah (hatred) for the one and ahavah (love) for the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve Hashem and Mammon (Money).
Now the ma'asei habasar are manifest, dehainu (being): zenut (fornication), tum'ah (impurity), zimmah (licentiousness),
Avodah zarah (idolatry), kashefanut (sorcery, witchcraft), eivot (enmities), merivah (strife), kinah (jealousy), rogez (anger), anochiyut (selfishness), machalokot (dissensions), kitot (sects),
Tzarut ayin (envyings), shichrut (drunkenness), holelut (carousing) and things like these, of which I tell you beforehand, as I said previously, that the ones practicing such things will not receive the nachalah (inheritance) of the Malchut Hashem.
Kol adam is dull-hearted and without da'as; every goldsmith is shamed by the pesel; for his nesekh (molten image) is sheker, and there is no ruach in them.
They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in pesel, that say to the masekhah (molten images): You (plural) are eloheinu (our g-ds).
For even if there are so-called “g-ds,” whether in Shomayim or on ha'aretz, even as there are so-called “g-ds” many and “l-rds” many,
Yet in fact for us we have da'as that there is ADONOI ECHAD (L-rd is One), Hashem AV ECHAD L'CHULLANU (One Father of us all), from whom are all things, and we exist for Hashem, and there is Adon Echad, Moshiach Yehoshua, through whom are all things and we through him.
And no wonder! For even HaSatan transforms himself into a malach ohr (an angel of light);
It is no big “megillah,” therefore, if also Hasatanʼs ministers transform themselves as ministers of Tzedek. Their end will be according to their ma'asim.
Thus saith Adonoi Hashem: Because thy passion was poured out, and thy ervah uncovered through thy zonah harlotry with thy lovers, and with all the gillulim (idols) of thy to'avot, and by the dahm of thy banim, which thou didst give unto them;
And do not involve yourself in the ma'asei haChoshech (works of darkness), those works without p'ri; but rather even expose them.
Their atzabim (idols) are kesef and zahav, the ma'aseh (work) of the hands of adam.
Peh (mouth) they have, but they speak not; einayim (eyes) have they, but they see not;
But these two things shall overtake thee in a rega (moment), in yom echad, shechol (the loss of children), and almon (widowhood); they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy kashefanut (sorceries, witchcraft) and for the otzmah (great abundance) of thine khavarim (spells, magic, enchantments).
Moreover the mediums with familiar spirits, and the yidonim (spiritists), and the terafim, and the gillulim (idols), and all the shikkutzim that were seen in Eretz Yehudah and in Yerushalayim, did Yoshiyah put away, that he might confirm the Divrei HaTorah which were written in the Sefer that Chilkiyah HaKohen found in the Beis Hashem.
Outside are the kelevim (dogs) and the mekhashfim (sorcerers, abusers of drugs); and the zonim (sexually immoral) and the rotzkhim (murderers) and the ovdei haelilim (idolaters) and everyone loving and practicing sheker.
Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy sacred pillars out of the midst of thee; and lo tishtachaveh (thou shalt no more bow down to, worship) the work of thine hands.
And he made bno pass through the eish, and practiced sorcery, and witchcraft, and dealt with familiar spirits and spiritists; he wrought much rah in the eyes of Hashem, to provoke Him to anger.
And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto mediums that have familiar spirits, and unto spiritists that whisper, and that mutter: should not Am seek unto Elohav? Should they consult the mesim (dead ones) for the benefit of the chayyim (living)?
To the torah (teaching of G-d) and to the te'udah (recorded testimony); if they speak not according to Davar HaZeh, it is because there is no shachar (dawn, light) in them.
Therefore do not pay heed to your nevi'im, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your soothsayers, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve Melech Bavel;
Therefore Thou hast abandoned Thy people Bais Ya'akov, because they have found their fullness from Kedem (the East), and practice divination like the Pelishtim, and they clasp hands contentedly with yaldei nochrim (children of foreigners).
And he caused his banot to pass through the eish in the Gey Ben Hinnom; also he practiced astrology, fortune-telling, and witchcraft, and necromancy and consulted mediums and spiritists; he wrought rah in the eyes of Hashem, to provoke Him to anger.
For meri (rebellion) is as the chattat (sin) of kesem (witchcraft, soothsaying, divination), and stubbornness is as heathenish iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the Devar Hashem, He hath also rejected thee from being Melech.
Now the Ruach HaKodesh says befeirush (explicitly) that in the acharit hayamim some will become meshummad (apostate) from the emunah, giving heed to deceitful ruchot (spirits) and teachings of shedim,
They traded in HaEmes Hashem (the Truth of G-d) for sheker, for a lie, and worshiped and served HaBri'ah (the Creature, the Creation) rather than HaBo're (the Beshefer), hamvorach l'olamim. Omein (who is blessed forever. Amen).
The Bi'as Anti-Moshiach (Coming, Parousia, of Anti-Moshiach) is according to the working of HaSatan with all false ko'ach (power) and otot (signs) and pseudo moftim (wonders),
And with all deception of resha (wickedness) for those who are perishing, because they were not being mekabel (receiving) the Ahavas HaEmes (Love of the Truth) so that they have the Geulah deliverance.
Therefore ye shall see no longer shav (vanity, futility), nor practice divinations; for I will save My people out of your yad; and ye shall know that I am Hashem.
And the rest of the Bnei Adam, the ones not killed by these makkot (plagues), did not make teshuva and turn from the ma'asim (deeds) of their hands or forsake worship of shedim (demons) and the itztzavim (idols, images, tzelamim), those of gold and of silver and of bronze and of stone and of wood, which neither are able to see nor to hear nor to walk.
And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto mediums that have familiar spirits, and unto spiritists that whisper, and that mutter: should not Am seek unto Elohav? Should they consult the mesim (dead ones) for the benefit of the chayyim (living)?
Because of the multitude of the harlotries of the alluring zonah, the ba'alat keshafim (the mistress of sorceries), that enslaveth Goyim through her prostitutions, and mishpochot through her keshafim;
And what agreement has the Heikhal of Hashem with elilim? For we are a Heikhal of the Elohim Chayyim as G-d said, V'HITHALLACHTI B'TOCHCHEM (And I will walk in the midst of you), IT WILL BE MISHKANI ALEHEM (dwelling place of me with them), V'HAYU LI L'AM VAANI EHEYEH LAHEM LELOHIM (And they will be to me as people and I will be to them as G-d).
Thus saith Hashem: Learn not the Derech HaGoyim, and be not in awe of the otot HaShomayim; though the Goyim are in awe of them.
Thou shalt not do so unto Hashem Eloheicha; for kol to'avat Hashem (every abomination to Hashem), which He hateth, have they done unto their elohim; for even their banim and their banot they have burned in the eish to their elohim.
That annuls the otot of the baddim (liars, false prophets), and maketh kosemim (diviners, soothsayers) into madmen; that turneth back chachamim, and maketh their da'as (knowledge, science) foolishness;
But draw near to here, ye bnei onenah (you children of a sorceress), zera mena'ef (offspring of an adulterer) and she who plays the zonah.
Because, even though they in actual fact knew G-d, they did not ascribe Him kavod (glory) as G-d or give hodayah (thanksgiving) to Him, but became filled with hevel (futility, vanity, emptiness, worthlessness) in their thinking, and their senseless levavot were darkened.
Claiming to be chachamim (wise ones), they became kesilim (fools),
And traded in the kavod (glory) of the incorruptible G-d for the mere likeness of the demut (image, icon) of corruptible man, birds, beasts, and reptiles.
Therefore, G-d (in wrath) delivered them over in the ta'avot of their levavot to tum'a (uncleanness) to the dishonoring and perverting of their bodies among themselves:
They traded in HaEmes Hashem (the Truth of G-d) for sheker, for a lie, and worshiped and served HaBri'ah (the Creature, the Creation) rather than HaBo're (the Beshefer), hamvorach l'olamim. Omein (who is blessed forever. Amen).
What thing soever I command you, be shomer to do it; thou shalt not add thereto, nor take away or diminish from it.
If there arise among you a navi, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee an ot (sign) or a mofet (wonder),
And the ot (sign) or the mofet (wonder) come to pass, whereof he spoke unto thee, saying, Let us go after elohim acherim, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;
Thou shalt not give heed unto the devarim of that navi, or that dreamer of dreams; for Hashem Eloheichem is testing you, to know whether ye love Hashem Eloheichem with all your lev and with all your nefesh.
Ye shall walk after Hashem Eloheichem, and fear Him, and be shomer over His mitzvot, and obey His voice, and ye shall serve Him, and have deveykus unto Him.
And say, Thus saith Adonoi Hashem: Hoy (woe, doom) to the seamstresses of magic charms on wrists, who make mispachot (amulets) for the rosh of every size to hunt nefashot! Will ye hunt the nefashot of My people, and yet save your own nefashot alive?
And will ye profane Me among My people for handfuls of se'orim and for pieces of lechem, to slay the nefashot that should not die, and to save the nefashot alive that should not live, by your kazav (lying) to My people that hear your kazav?
Therefore thus saith Adonoi Hashem: Hineni, I am against your magic charms, wherewith ye there hunt to ensnare the nefashot like birds, and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the nefashot go, even the nefashot that ye hunt like birds.
Your mispachot (amulets) also will I tear off, and I will save My people out of your yad, and they shall be no more in your yad (hand, power) to be hunted; and ye shall know that I am Hashem.
Because with sheker (falsehood) ye have made the lev tzaddik sad, to whom I have not brought sadness; and strengthened the hands of the rasha, that he should not turn from his derech harah to save his life;
Therefore ye shall see no longer shav (vanity, futility), nor practice divinations; for I will save My people out of your yad; and ye shall know that I am Hashem.
Now a certain ish by name Shim'on was previously in the city practicing magic and astonishing the people of Shomron, saying that he himself was an ish of gadlus (with remarkable superiority) and gadol.
And to this certain Shim'on everyone from katon to gadol was paying attention, saying, Hinei! This man is the ko'ach (power) of Hashem, the ko'ach hagadol.
And they were giving heed to him, because he for a long time had astonished them by magic tricks.
Let no one deprive you of the prize by delighting in his mystical asceticism and his veneration of malachim and delving into his chazonot (visions) and being vainly puffed up by the machshavot (thoughts) of his basar (old nature unrenewed and unregenerated by the Ruach Hakodesh),
And not holding on to the Rosh, out of whom all the Moshiachʼs Guf, being fully supplied and being be'ichud (united) together through the joints and ligaments, grows with the growth of Hashem.
So Sha'ul died for his ma'al (unfaithfulness) which he committed against Hashem, even against the Devar Hashem, over which he was not shomer, and also for consulting an ov (one with a familiar spirit) to seek guidance;
And inquired not of Hashem; therefore He slaughtered him, and turned over the kingdom unto Dovid Ben Yishai.
And they sacrificed their banim and their banot unto shedim (demons),
And they shed dahm naki (innocent blood), even the dahm of their banim and of their banot, whom they sacrificed unto the atzabei Kena'an (idols of Canaan); and HaAretz was polluted with blood-guilt.
Thus they made themselves tameh with their own ma'asim, and went a-whoring with their own inventions.
Stand now with thine khavarim (spells, magic, enchantments), and with the multitude of thy kashefanut (sorceries, witchcraft) wherein thou hast toiled from thy neurim; perhaps thou shalt be able to succeed, perhaps thou mayest cause terror.
Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy etzot (counsels). Let now stand up the hovrev Shomayim (the dissectors of the heavens, astrologers), the chozim bakochavim (stargazers), the ones that predict the future by Rosh Chodesh, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee.
Hinei, they shall be as kash (stubble, straw); the eish shall burn them; they shall not save their nefesh from the power of the flame; there shall not be a hot coal to warm them, nor eish to sit before.
Trust in Hashem with all thine lev, and lean not unto thine own binah (understanding).
In all thy drakhim acknowledge Him, and He shall make yosher thy orkhot (paths).
Be not chacham in thine own eyes; fear Hashem, and depart from rah.
Do not become unequally yoked with koferim (unbelievers), for what shuttafut (partnership) has Tzedek with Lawlessness? Or where is the Brit (Covenant) between Ohr (light) and Choshech (darkness)?
And what harmony does Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach have with B'liya'al? Or what chelek (allotment, inheritance) has a ma'amin with an Apikoros?
And what agreement has the Heikhal of Hashem with elilim? For we are a Heikhal of the Elohim Chayyim as G-d said, V'HITHALLACHTI B'TOCHCHEM (And I will walk in the midst of you), IT WILL BE MISHKANI ALEHEM (dwelling place of me with them), V'HAYU LI L'AM VAANI EHEYEH LAHEM LELOHIM (And they will be to me as people and I will be to them as G-d).
And I will come near to you for mishpat; and I will be a swift ed (witness) against the mekhashfim (sorcerers), and against the mena'afim (adulterers), and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the almanah (widow), and the fatherless, and that turn aside the ger from his right, and fear not Me, saith Hashem Tzva'os.
The peselim of eloheihem shall ye burn with eish; thou shalt not desire the kesef or zahav that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein; for it is a to'evah (abomination) to Hashem Eloheicha.
Neither shalt thou bring a to'evah (abomination) into thine bais, lest thou be a cherem like it; but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cherem.
I will set no devar beliyya'al before mine eyes; I hate the work of them that fall away; it shall not cleave to me.
Then Hashem said unto me, The nevi'im prophesy sheker in My Shem; I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spoke unto them; they prophesy unto you a chazon sheker (false vision) and kesem (divination, pagan fortunetelling), and a worthless thing, and the delusion of their lev.
Therefore thus saith Hashem concerning the nevi'im that prophesy in My Shem, and I sent them not, yet they say, Cherev and ra'av (famine) shall not be in HaAretz Hazot; By cherev and ra'av (famine) shall those nevi'im be consumed.
O senseless Galatians, who bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua was publicly shown forth as having been TALUI AL HAETZ (hanging on the tree).
This one thing only I want to learn from you: did you receive the Ruach HaKodesh by means of ma'asim of Gezetz (works of Law) or by means of the hearing of emunah?
You lack seichel; having begun in the Ruach HaKodesh, will you now be perfected in the basar?
Stop allowing yourself to be conformed to the Olam Hazeh, but be transformed by your hitkhadshut (regeneration, renewal) of your mind, so that you may ascertain what is the ratzon Hashem (the will of G-d), what is the good, acceptable, and perfect will of G-d.
Chaverim, do not believe every ruach. But test the ruchot (spirits), if they be of Hashem, because many nevi'ei sheker have gone out into the Olam Hazeh.
Ye that love Hashem, hate rah; He preserveth the nefashot of His chasidim; He delivereth them out of the yad resha'im.
And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto Shomayim, and when thou seest the shemesh, and the yarei'ach, and the kokhavim, even all the tz'va HaShomayim, shouldest be driven to hishtachaveh (bow down, worship) them, and serve them which Hashem Eloheicha hath divided unto kol Amim under kol HaShomayim.
For there will be a time when sound charedi (orthodox) hora'ah they will not tolerate, but according to their ta'avot they will accumulate morim to tickle their ears.
And from HaEmes of Hashem they will turn their ear away shmad and to aggadah they will be turned aside.