Occult Practices

⁹ When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate^(A) the detestable ways^(B) of the nations there.

¹⁵ They rejected his decrees and the covenant^(A) he had made with their ancestors and the statutes he had warned them to keep. They followed worthless idols^(B) and themselves became worthless.^(C) They imitated the nations^(D) around them although the Lord had ordered them, “Do not do as they do.”

¹⁵ Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father^(A) through the gospel.^{(B) 16} Therefore I urge you to imitate me.^{(C) 17} For this reason I have sent to you^(D) Timothy,^(E) my son^(F) whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.^(G)

¹¹ Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good.^(A) Anyone who does what is good is from God.^(B) Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.^(C)