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19 Now if they tell you, “Consult the ghosts and the spirits, those who chirp and those who mutter. Should not a people consult its gods, the dead on behalf of the living, 20 for teaching and for testimony?” surely they who speak like this have no dawn.[a]

21 And it[b] will pass through it[c] distressed and hungry, and this shall happen: when it is hungry, it will be enraged, and it will curse its king and its gods,[d] and it will face upwar 22 or look to the earth. But look! Distress and darkness, the gloom of affliction! And it will be thrust into darkness!

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 8:20 Literally “if not, they say like this word that there is no dawn for him,” which could also mean “if not, let them say a word like this: that there is no dawn for him”
  2. Isaiah 8:21 That is, the nation
  3. Isaiah 8:21 That is, the land
  4. Isaiah 8:21 Or “God”

19 Someone may say to you, “Let’s ask the mediums and those who consult the spirits of the dead. With their whisperings and mutterings, they will tell us what to do.” But shouldn’t people ask God for guidance? Should the living seek guidance from the dead?

20 Look to God’s instructions and teachings! People who contradict his word are completely in the dark. 21 They will go from one place to another, weary and hungry. And because they are hungry, they will rage and curse their king and their God. They will look up to heaven 22 and down at the earth, but wherever they look, there will be trouble and anguish and dark despair. They will be thrown out into the darkness.

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