The Bible does not treat witchcraft as a relic of primitive superstition.
It treats it as a real and persistent spiritual danger with a documented history across both Testaments and an unambiguous verdict from God.
The prohibitions are not cultural preferences. They run from Exodus to Revelation.
The reasoning behind them is consistent: witchcraft positions something other than God as the source of supernatural knowledge and power.
Understanding what Scripture actually says requires separating the biblical definition from the cultural one.
The Bible is not addressing brooms and cauldrons.
It is addressing any attempt to access spiritual power, knowledge, or influence through means that bypass or oppose the living God.
The Foundation: God’s Direct Command
1. Deuteronomy 18:10-12
“Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord.” (Deuteronomy 18:10-12, NIV)
This is the foundational text. Moses is speaking to Israel before they enter Canaan, a land saturated with occult practice, and he gives a direct, comprehensive prohibition.
The list is not incidental. Divination, sorcery, omens, witchcraft, spells, mediums, spiritists, necromancy. Moses names each category. God is not vague about what He is forbidding.
The word translated “detestable” is the Hebrew to’ebah, used throughout Leviticus and Deuteronomy to describe practices that are fundamentally incompatible with covenant relationship with God. It is strong language, and it is chosen deliberately.
Stand on this: When any practice promises spiritual insight, power, or connection outside of God, this passage is the measuring standard. Ask plainly: is this bypassing God or drawing me toward Him?
2. Exodus 22:18
“You shall not permit a sorceress to live.” (Exodus 22:18, ESV)
The severity of this command reflects how seriously God treated witchcraft in the Mosaic covenant. The death penalty was reserved for offenses that struck at the covenant itself: idolatry, blasphemy, murder, and occult practice.
This is not a command carried into the New Testament’s redemptive framework. But it communicates something that remains true across both Testaments: God does not regard witchcraft as a minor infraction or a neutral cultural practice.
Stand on this: The severity of the Old Testament response is not a relic to dismiss. It is a signal of how fundamentally witchcraft conflicts with trusting God as the sole source of life and guidance.
3. Leviticus 19:31
“Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.” (Leviticus 19:31, NKJV)
God adds a consequence here that goes beyond legal judgment: defilement. This is a term that describes spiritual corruption, a contamination of the person’s relationship with God.
The closing phrase, “I am the Lord your God,” is a covenant declaration. It frames the prohibition not as arbitrary rule-making but as faithfulness to a relationship. Turning to mediums is, at its root, a statement that God is not enough.
Stand on this: Every time you are tempted to seek spiritual answers outside of God, Scriptures like this one are not threatening you. They are protecting you.
Witchcraft in the New Testament
4. Galatians 5:19-21
“When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19-21, NLT)
Paul places witchcraft (pharmakeia in Greek) in his catalogue of the works of the flesh. The Greek root is connected to the word for drugs or potions. Occult practices in the ancient world frequently involved the use of psychoactive substances to alter consciousness and invite spiritual contact.
The word “witchcraft” here is in the same list as hatred, jealousy, and rage, not because it is equivalent in form, but because all of them share the same root: the flesh asserting control instead of yielding to the Spirit.
Stand on this: Galatians 5 is not a list of the worst possible sins. It is a description of the unspiritual life. Witchcraft sits in this list because it is the flesh seeking spiritual power on its own terms.
5. Revelation 21:8
“But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:8, NASB)
The phrase “practice magic arts” translates the Greek pharmakois, the same root as Galatians 5:20. John’s vision of the new creation includes a clear statement about those who persist in occult practice without repentance.
This verse is not a condemnation of the curious or the deceived. It describes those who continue in these practices as a defining characteristic of their lives. The gravity of the language underscores what is at stake spiritually.
Stand on this: What a person consistently returns to reveals what they are trusting. Revelation 21 calls the believer to examine whether their patterns of seeking align with God or pull them away from Him.
6. Acts 19:19
“And many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in front of everyone. So they calculated their value and found it to be 50,000 pieces of silver.” (Acts 19:19, HCSB)
This is one of the most striking scenes in the New Testament. New believers in Ephesus, a city dense with occult practice, voluntarily bring their books of magic and burn them. The value is enormous: fifty thousand drachmas represented roughly fifty thousand days of wages.
They did not archive the scrolls. They did not sell them. They burned them publicly. The act was an irreversible declaration that they were done.
Stand on this: Genuine repentance from occult involvement looks like this: not gradual reduction, but decisive severance. What in your life needs a bonfire rather than a shelf?
The Source and the Danger
7. 1 Samuel 15:23
“For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.” (1 Samuel 15:23, KJV)
Samuel is confronting Saul after Saul disobeys God’s direct command. The comparison Samuel makes is pointed: rebellion against God’s word is like divination. Both are the act of substituting your own will and its sources for God’s revealed word.
This verse frames witchcraft not primarily as an occult ritual but as a posture of the heart: seeking knowledge and power through means that bypass God’s authority.
Stand on this: The issue is not always candles and ceremonies. Sometimes witchcraft is simply the habit of going everywhere else for answers before going to God. This verse names that plainly.
8. Isaiah 8:19-20
“They will say to you, ‘Seek oracles from the spirits of the dead and from the magicians who chirp and mutter.’ But a nation should seek oracles from its God, should it consult the dead on behalf of the living? Refer to the instructions and the testimony! If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.” (Isaiah 8:19-20, NET)
Isaiah asks what is essentially a logic question. Why would anyone seek knowledge from the dead when the living God is available?
The phrase “no light of dawn” is a description of spiritual darkness. Those who turn to mediums and spiritists are not gaining insight. They are moving into darkness while believing they are gaining illumination.
Stand on this: The next time anything presents itself as a source of spiritual insight, horoscopes, tarot, mediums, energy readings, ask Isaiah’s question: why consult these when God’s instruction is available?
For Those Who Have Been Involved
9. 2 Chronicles 33:6, 12-13
“He made his sons pass through the fire in the Valley of Hinnom. He practiced witchcraft, divination, and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did a great amount of evil in the Lord’s sight, angering him.” (2 Chronicles 33:6, CSB)
Manasseh was one of the most wicked kings in Israel’s history. His involvement in witchcraft and child sacrifice is documented in the starkest terms.
But verses 12 and 13 record something extraordinary. In his distress, Manasseh humbled himself before God, and the text says God was moved by his plea and restored him to his kingdom. Manasseh knew then that the Lord is God.
Manasseh repented and was restored. His story is one of the most dramatic redemptions in the Old Testament, a man whose witchcraft and wickedness were extensive, brought back to God through genuine humility and prayer.
Stand on this: If you have been involved in witchcraft or the occult, Manasseh’s account is Scripture’s answer to the question of whether it is too late. It is not. God restored a king who had done what Manasseh did.
10. Acts 8:9-11, 13
“Previous to Philip’s arrival, a certain Simon had practiced magic in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, boasting extravagantly that he was the Great Somebody… Simon himself believed and was baptized.” (Acts 8:9-11, 13, MSG)
Simon was a practicing sorcerer with a significant following. The text says he “amazed” the people, language that suggests genuine displays of power. When Philip preached the gospel in Samaria, Simon believed and was baptized.
His story is complicated: verses 18-24 show he still had much to learn about what kingdom he now belonged to. But the opening of the account is clear: a man who had built his identity around sorcery came to faith. The gospel reached him.
Stand on this: No background in the occult puts a person beyond the reach of the gospel. Simon the sorcerer was baptized. The same power that converted him is available to anyone who calls on the name of Christ.
A Prayer Against the Occult
Lord, Your word is clear. You alone are the source of all true knowledge, all power, and all spiritual reality.
Forgive any ways I have sought those things apart from You. Forgive any foothold I have given to what You have forbidden.
I renounce every connection to occult practice, in my own life and in my family’s history. I stand in the authority of the name of Jesus, who is above every name, every power, and every darkness.
Fill the places that have been emptied with Your Spirit alone.
Amen.
Frequently Asked Questions About Witchcraft in the Bible
Is witchcraft a sin according to the Bible?
Yes. The Bible classifies witchcraft as sin in both Testaments. Galatians 5:20 lists it among the works of the flesh. Deuteronomy 18:10-12 prohibits every related practice by name. Scripture consistently frames witchcraft as Satan’s counterfeit to genuine spiritual relationship with God.
What is the difference between witchcraft and sorcery in the Bible?
The terms overlap significantly in Scripture. Both involve seeking supernatural power outside of God. The Greek pharmakeia, translated “witchcraft” or “sorcery,” carries the idea of potions and manipulation. In practice, Scripture treats divination, sorcery, and witchcraft as variations of the same fundamental rejection of God’s authority.
Can a Christian be affected by witchcraft?
Scripture is clear that believers have authority in Christ (Luke 10:19) and that greater is He who is in them than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4). While spiritual attack is real, no occult practice holds authority over a believer standing in Christ.
Does the Bible say Christians can be forgiven for involvement in witchcraft?
Yes. Manasseh practiced extensive witchcraft and was restored after genuine repentance (2 Chronicles 33:12-13). The converts in Ephesus burned their occult materials and were welcomed into the church (Acts 19:19). CARM affirms that God’s grace is sufficient for anyone who repents and turns from occult involvement.
What should a Christian do if they have been involved in witchcraft?
Scripture points toward confession, renunciation, and removal of any related materials (Acts 19:19). First John 1:9 promises complete forgiveness upon honest confession. Practically, this includes cutting ties with occult communities, destroying related objects, and seeking accountability within a local church.
Works Cited
Martin, Walter. The Kingdom of the Occult. Thomas Nelson, 2008.
Koch, Kurt E. Occult Bondage and Deliverance. Kregel Publications, 1970.
Arnold, Clinton E. Powers of Darkness: Principalities and Powers in Paul’s Letters. IVP Academic, 1992.
What Does the Bible Say About Witchcraft? GotQuestions.org.
What Does the Bible Say About Witchcraft? Christianity.com.
What Does the Bible Say About Witchcraft? CARM.
Witchcraft and the Christian: What the Bible Really Says. Crosswalk.
What the Bible Says About Sorcery and Occult Practice. Compelling Truth.
Witchcraft in the Bible: A Biblical Overview. Cornerstone Christian Church Blog.
Anderson, Neil T. The Bondage Breaker. Harvest House Publishers, 2006.
