# What Does the Bible Say About Witchcraft? > Deuteronomy 18 forbids divination, enchantment, witchcraft, and consulting familiar spirits, and calls those practices an abomination to the LORD. - Canonical: https://apologetics.wiki/wicca/witchcraft-and-the-bible - Religions: Wicca and Paganism - Denominations: none - Beliefs: none - Tags: wicca, bible, witchcraft - Updated: 2026-10-09 - Author: [Paul Ambrose](https://apologetics.wiki/author/hi-its-paul) ([GitHub](https://github.com/hi-its-paul)) The Bible forbids witchcraft, divination, and consulting familiar spirits. [Deuteronomy 18:12](/bible/deuteronomy/18/12) says all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD. The Pagan Federation says divination and magic are accepted parts of life. Christians confess one God, and that Jesus is the way to the Father. ## Key points - [Deuteronomy 18:10](/bible/deuteronomy/18/10) names divination, an observer of times, an enchanter, and a witch. - [Deuteronomy 18:11](/bible/deuteronomy/18/11) names a charmer, a consulter with familiar spirits, a wizard, and a necromancer. - [Deuteronomy 18:12](/bible/deuteronomy/18/12) says these things “are an abomination unto the LORD.” - [Exodus 22:18](/bible/exodus/22) says, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” - The [Pagan Federation](https://www.paganfed.org/paganism/) says divination and magic “are accepted parts of life.” - [Are angel numbers biblical?](/new-age/angel-numbers-tarot-and-numerology) uses the same Deuteronomy passage. [What is Wicca?](/wicca/what-is-wicca) quotes the Rede. ## What the Bible says [Deuteronomy 18:10–12](/bible/deuteronomy/18) (King James Version) says: > There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch. Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee. [Exodus 22:18](/bible/exodus/22) (King James Version) says: > Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. [Isaiah 8:19](/bible/isaiah/8) (King James Version) says: > And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? [Leviticus 19:31](/bible/leviticus/19) says, “Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.” ## What pagans say about magic The [Pagan Federation](https://www.paganfed.org/paganism/) says divination and magic “are accepted parts of life.” [What is paganism?](/wicca/what-is-paganism) quotes the Federation’s definition of pagan religion. [What is Wicca?](/wicca/what-is-wicca) quotes the short Rede, “An it harm none, do what ye will.” ## The Christian claim The two standards are different. The Rede’s short form, as Wikisource states it, turns on harming none. [Deuteronomy 18:12](/bible/deuteronomy/18/12) calls the listed practices an abomination to the LORD whether or not a neighbor is harmed. [John 14:6](/bible/john/14/6) records Jesus: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Christians confess that Jesus is God. That is [the deity of Christ](/christianity/deity-of-christ). [Isaiah 8:19](/bible/isaiah/8) points a people to their God rather than to familiar spirits. ## Frequently asked questions ### Does “thou shalt not suffer a witch to live” still tell Christians to kill people? [Exodus 22:18](/bible/exodus/22) is a sentence of the Law given to Israel. The New Testament passage this page pairs with it is [John 14:6](/bible/john/14/6): Jesus is the way. [Galatians 3:13](/bible/galatians/3) says Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law. This page does not turn Exodus 22:18 into a command for a private person today. ### Is every herb or holiday witchcraft? [Deuteronomy 18:10–11](/bible/deuteronomy/18) names divination, observing times, enchantment, and consulting familiar spirits. [What is the New Age movement?](/new-age/what-is-the-new-age-movement) is the related shelf. A claim that a Christian holiday is pagan is not this page. ### Where does the Bible send a person who has practiced these things? [Isaiah 8:19](/bible/isaiah/8) asks whether a people should seek their God. [John 3:16](/bible/john/3/16) says whoever believes in the Son should not perish but have everlasting life. Jesus is God. ## Passages quoted on this page ### John 14:6 King James Version. > Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. ### Galatians 3:13 King James Version. > Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: ### John 3:16 King James Version. > For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. ## Sources Numbered to match the HTML References list. Item 1 is `#ref-1` under `#references`. Scripture links to the King James Version on this site. 1. [Book of Deuteronomy, 18:10–12](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/deuteronomy/18). King James Version 2. [Book of Exodus, 22:18](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/exodus/22/18). King James Version 3. [The Pagan Federation, Paganism, Divination and magic](https://www.paganfed.org/paganism/) 4. [Book of Isaiah, 8:19](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/isaiah/8/19). King James Version ## See also - [What Is Paganism? Modern Pagan Religion Explained](https://apologetics.wiki/wicca/what-is-paganism) — The Pagan Federation defines a Pagan as a follower of a polytheistic or pantheistic nature-worshipping religion, and says its adherents venerate Nature and worship many deities. - [What Is Wicca? What Wiccans Believe](https://apologetics.wiki/wicca/what-is-wicca) — The Pagan Federation says Wiccan-based Pagans see the goddesses as one Great Goddess and the gods as one Great God. The short Wiccan Rede is “An it harm none, do what ye will.” - [Can Christians Believe in Evolution?](https://apologetics.wiki/moral-questions/evolution-and-creation) — Christians confess that God created the heavens and the earth and made humans in his image. They do not agree on the age of the earth or on the means. - [Does the Bible Support Slavery?](https://apologetics.wiki/moral-questions/slavery-in-the-bible) — The Bible condemns kidnapping a person to sell them, and it says every person is made in God’s image. It also regulates slavery in ancient Israel and the Roman world. - [Has the Bible Been Changed? The Muslim Corruption Claim](https://apologetics.wiki/islam/was-the-bible-corrupted) — The Qur'an accuses some People of the Scripture of distorting words and of writing scripture with their own hands. It also speaks of the Torah and the Gospel as books still in their possession. ## History [View history on GitHub](https://github.com/Apologetics-Wiki/apologetics-wiki/commits/main/src/content/articles/witchcraft-and-the-bible.md)