What does the Bible say about fortune telling and psychics?
"And when they say to you, 'Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,' should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living?"
â Isaiah 8:19
Quick Answer
Scripture forbids consulting fortune tellers, mediums, and psychics, grouping these practices among the divination the LORD calls detestable (Deuteronomy 18:10-12). God calls His people to seek guidance through Him alone, through prayer, Scripture, and godly counsel, rather than through spiritual sources He has explicitly prohibited (Isaiah 8:19-20).
The Appeal of Knowing What's Ahead
Uncertainty about the future is one of the most human anxieties there is. Will the marriage last? Will the diagnosis be bad news? Will the money work out? Psychics and fortune tellers promise a shortcut past that uncertainty, a glimpse behind the curtain most of us never get. It's an understandable temptation, and the Bible takes it seriously enough to address it head-on rather than ignore it.
God does not condemn the desire for guidance and hope; He created that desire. What He condemns is seeking it from a forbidden source instead of from Him.
A Clear Old Testament Prohibition
Deuteronomy 18:10-12 explicitly forbids anyone 'who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens' along with sorcerers, mediums, and those who consult the dead, calling everyone who does these things 'an abomination to the LORD.' Leviticus 19:31 adds a direct command: 'Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them.'
This was not a minor cultural preference; it was serious enough that Leviticus 20:6 says God would 'set my face against' anyone who turns to mediums, and King Saul's fatal consultation with the medium at Endor (1 Samuel 28) is presented in Scripture as part of the unfaithfulness that cost him his kingdom (1 Chronicles 10:13-14).
Why God Forbids It Rather Than Simply Discourages It
Isaiah asks the pointed question: 'Should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living?' (Isaiah 8:19). The underlying issue is trust. Turning to a psychic instead of God says, in effect, that God's guidance is insufficient or too slow, and that a human intermediary claiming supernatural insight is a safer bet.
There is also a real danger behind the practice. Whatever knowledge or power a genuine psychic operation taps into is not neutral; Scripture attributes such supernatural insight, when it is not fraud, to deceptive spiritual sources rather than to God (Acts 16:16-18, where Paul cast out a 'spirit of divination' from a fortune-telling slave girl).
What About Fraud Versus the "Real Thing"?
Many fortune tellers are simply skilled at cold reading and educated guessing, offering no genuine supernatural insight at all; that is a form of deception and dishonesty the Bible also condemns (Proverbs 12:22). But Scripture's warning isn't limited to fraud. Acts 16 shows a case where real supernatural information was involved, coming from 'a spirit of divination' that Paul recognized as demonic and drove out in Jesus' name.
So the prohibition holds whether a given psychic is a con artist or genuinely tapped into something spiritual, because both possibilities lead a person away from trusting God and toward trusting a counterfeit.
What About Astrology and Horoscopes Specifically?
Astrology deserves specific mention because it is so normalized, appearing in newspapers, apps, and casual conversation as a fun personality framework rather than a spiritual claim. But astrology's underlying premise, that the position of stars and planets governs or reveals a person's fate, directly competes with Scripture's teaching that God alone directs the course of human lives (Proverbs 16:9) and that the heavens were created to declare His glory, not to dictate destiny (Psalm 19:1).
Isaiah 47:13-14 mocks Babylon's trust in 'astrologers, stargazers, who predict what shall come upon you,' declaring that they 'will not save themselves.' The prophet's point stands today: consulting the stars for guidance ultimately trusts a created thing over the Creator who made it (Romans 1:25).
Where to Take Your Questions About the Future Instead
James 1:5 offers the better path: 'If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.' Scripture, prayer, and the counsel of mature believers are the means God has provided for guidance, and they come without the spiritual risk that accompanies psychics and fortune tellers.
Above all, Proverbs 3:5-6 reframes the whole anxiety about the unknown future: 'Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding... he will make straight your paths.' Peace about the future comes from trusting the God who holds it, not from glimpsing it ahead of time.
God has also promised His people ongoing companionship for the road ahead, not merely information about it. Jesus told His disciples, 'I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you' (John 14:18), and that abiding presence, moment by moment, is worth infinitely more than a preview of tomorrow's headlines.