97 Verses on the Risks of Occult Practices

My dear children, keep clear of idols.

Well then, with regard to food that has been offered to idols, I am quite aware that 'there is no such thing as an idol in the world' and that 'there is only the one God.'

But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands and give up worshipping daemons and idols of gold and silver and brass and stone and wood, which cannot either see or hear or stir;

What! do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the Realm of God? Make no mistake about it; neither the immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor catamites nor sodomites nor thieves nor the lustful nor the drunken nor the abusive nor robbers will inherit the Realm of God.

Shun idolatry, then, my beloved.

Begone, you dogs, you sorcerers, you vicious men, you murderers, you idolaters, you who love and practise falsehood, everyone of you!"

Now it happened as we went to the place of prayer that a slave-girl met us, possessed by a spirit of ventriloquism, and a source of great profit to her owners by her power of fortune-telling. She followed Paul and the rest of us, shrieking, "These men are servants of the Most High God, they proclaim to you the way of salvation!" She did this for a number of days. Then Paul turned in annoyance and told the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I order you out of her!" And it left her that very moment.

But in later days, the Spirit distinctly declares, certain people will rebel against the faith; they will listen to spirits of error and to the doctrines that daemons teach

No, what I imply is that anything people sacrifice is sacrificed to daemons, not to God. And I do not want you to participate in daemons! You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and also the cup of daemons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and also of the table of daemons.

Still, false prophets did appear among the People, as among you also there will be false teachers, men who will insinuate destructive heresies, even disowning the Lord who ransomed them; they bring rapid destruction on themselves,

for false Christs and false prophets will rise and bring forward great signs and wonders, so as to mislead the very elect, — if that were possible.

Now the deeds of the flesh are quite obvious, such as sexual vice, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, magic, quarrels, dissension, jealousy, temper, rivalry, factions, party-spirit,

and numbers who had practised magic arts collected their books and burned them in the presence of all. On adding up the value of them, it was found that they were worth two thousand pounds.

But the sorcerer Elymas (for that is the translation of his name) tried to divert the proconsul from the faith. So Saul (who is also called Paul), filled with the holy Spirit, looked steadily at him and said, "You son of the devil, you enemy of all good, full of all craft and all cunning, will you never stop diverting the straight paths of the Lord?

Beware of false prophets; they come to you with the garb of sheep but at heart they are ravenous wolves.

Then I saw issuing from the mouth of the dragon and from the mouth of the Beast and from the mouth of the false Prophet, three foul spirits like frogs — demon-spirits performing miracles, who come out to muster the kings of the whole world for battle on the great Day of almighty God.

Do not believe every spirit, beloved, but test the spirits to see if they come from God; for many false prophets have emerged in the world.

No wonder they do, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.

but as for the craven, the faithless, the abominable, as for murderers, the immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and liars of all kinds — their lot is the lake that blazes with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."