¹³ So Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he had ^[a]committed against the Lord, ^(A)because he did not keep the word of the Lord, and also because ^(B)he consulted a medium for guidance.

⁶ ‘And ^(A)the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from his people.

³¹ ‘Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after ^(A)them, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.

¹⁹ And when they say to you, ^(A)“Seek those who are mediums and wizards, ^(B)who whisper and mutter,” should not a people seek their God? Should they ^(C)seek the dead on behalf of the living?

¹⁰ There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter ^(A)pass^[a] through the fire, ^(B)or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, ^11 (C)or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or ^(D)one who calls up the dead. ¹² For all who do these things are ^[b]an abomination to the Lord, and ^(E)because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you. ¹³ You shall be ^[c]blameless before the Lord your God. ¹⁴ For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the Lord your God has not ^[d]appointed such for you.

⁷ Then Saul said to his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, ^(A)that I may go to her and inquire of her.”

And his servants said to him, “In fact, there is a woman who is a medium at En Dor.”

⁸ So Saul disguised himself and put on other clothes, and he went, and two men with him; and they came to the woman by night. And ^(B)he said, “Please conduct a séance for me, and bring up for me the one I shall name to you.”

⁹ Then the woman said to him, “Look, you know what Saul has done, how he has ^(C)cut off the mediums and the spiritists from the land. Why then do you lay a snare for my life, to cause me to die?”

¹⁰ And Saul swore to her by the Lord, saying, “As the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.”

¹¹ Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?”

And he said, “Bring up Samuel for me.”

¹² When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman spoke to Saul, saying, “Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul!”

¹³ And the king said to her, “Do not be afraid. What did you see?”

And the woman said to Saul, “I saw ^(D)a^[a] spirit ascending out of the earth.”

¹⁴ So he said to her, “What is his form?”

And she said, “An old man is coming up, and he is covered with ^(E)a mantle.” And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground and bowed down.

¹⁵ Now Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you ^(F)disturbed me by bringing me up?”

And Saul answered, “I am deeply distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and ^(G)God has departed from me and ^(H)does not answer me anymore, neither by prophets nor by dreams. Therefore I have called you, that you may reveal to me what I should do.”

¹⁶ Then Samuel said: “So why do you ask me, seeing the Lord has departed from you and has become your enemy? ¹⁷ And the Lord has done for ^[b]Himself ^(I)as He spoke by me. For the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David. ^18 (J)Because you did not obey the voice of the Lord nor execute His fierce wrath upon ^(K)Amalek, therefore the Lord has done this thing to you this day. ¹⁹ Moreover the Lord will also deliver Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines. And tomorrow you and your sons will be with ^(L)me. The Lord will also deliver the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.”

²⁰ Immediately Saul fell full length on the ground, and was dreadfully afraid because of the words of Samuel. And there was no strength in him, for he had eaten no food all day or all night.

² Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, ^(A)how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt.

^18 (A)“You shall not permit a sorceress to live.