¹⁹ Some people say, “Ask the mediums and ·fortune-tellers [necromancers; spiritists], who ·whisper [or chirp] and mutter [^Cusing incantations to call up spirits; 1 Sam. 28:8–11], what to do.” ·But I tell you that people should ask their God for help. Why should people who are still alive ask something from the dead? [or “Should not a nation consult their gods, asking the dead on behalf of the living?”; ^Cin this interpretation the quotation continues to the end of the verse]. ²⁰ ·You should follow the teachings and the agreement with the Lord [^L(Look) to the law/instruction and to the testimony]. ·The mediums and fortune-tellers do not [^LThose who do not; or If they do not] speak ·the word of the Lord [^Laccording to this word], ·so their words are worth nothing [or they are spiritually blinded; ^Lthey have no dawn].

²¹ ·People will wander through the land [^LThey will pass through] ·troubled [or destitute] and hungry. When they become hungry, they will become angry and will look up and curse their king and their God. ²² They will look around them at their land and see only ·trouble [distress], darkness, and awful gloom. And they will be forced into the darkness.