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1 Samuel 28

The Witch of Endor

Lyrics · 1 Samuel

The Witch of Endor

1 Samuel 28

Lyrics

About this song

About this song

This song belongs to the 1 Samuel collection. One recording is available to play here, with the complete lyrics below.

Bible book
1 Samuel
Collection
1 Samuel
Musical styles
Electronic
The witch of Endor I lit the fire like always Said the words I always say Took the coin he pressed into my palm And sent his fear away I knew the trade was hollow Knew the spirits never came Just smoke and fear and firelight I had done this a thousand times Just a very old game But the air went wrong And the fire went flat And something cold moved in And I could not take it back Something answered Something rose up through the floor Something older than my darkness Something I had never seen before I never summoned anyone I never had that kind of power The Lord sent back his prophet And it broke me in that hour The king had come in secret Wrapped in common cloth and lies I knew him when I looked at him Behind those frightened eyes I should have turned him from my door I should have let him go But I took his gold and lit the fire And called up what I did not know Then the air went wrong And the fire went flat And something cold moved through me And I could not take it back Something answered Something rose up through the floor Something older than my darkness Something I had never seen before I never summoned anyone I never had that kind of power The Lord sent back his prophet And it broke me in that hour He said, the Lord has left you He said, the kingdom's torn away He said, tomorrow you will join me I had nothing left to say The king fell full length on the ground A man with nothing left to be I stood above him shaking He finally believed And so did I So did I Something answered Something cold came through the floor Something older than all my tricks Something I had never bargained for I spent my life in darkness, thought I knew what darkness was Then the Lord of all the living showed me what real darkness does I fed him bread before he left I didn't know what else to do The fire had gone cold in the pit And I knew that I knew And I knew that I knew

Lyrics transcribed from this recording. Word-for-word review is pending.

About the passage

1 Samuel 28: Saul seeks a different route to the word he has rejected

The Philistine campaign forces both David and Saul into the consequences of earlier choices. Achish expects the man he trusts to march against Israel, while Saul faces the same enemy army without Samuel and without an answer from dreams, Urim, or prophets. He then seeks guidance through a practice he himself outlawed, travelling in disguise to a woman at Endor and swearing in the LORD's name that she will not be punished for helping him violate his own prohibition. The appearance identified throughout the chapter as Samuel does not give Saul a new tactic. It gives him the old judgment again, now with a date close enough to terrify him: the kingdom is gone, the Amalekite disobedience still matters, Israel will fall, and Saul and his sons will die. The final scene is unexpectedly domestic. Saul collapses, exhausted and afraid, and the woman whose life was endangered by his law prepares a substantial meal. He leaves strengthened enough to walk, but with no restored oracle, no changed military outcome, and no escape from the word he had already resisted.

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