With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him,
And taught him knowledge and showed him the way of understanding?
—Isaiah 40:13.
Counsel is given to gods and men by means of oracles:
Before thy face the great gods bow down, the fate of the world is set before thee,
The great gods beseech thee, and thou givest counsel;
They take their stand all of them, they petition at thy feet;
O Sin, glorious one of Ekur, they beseech thee,
And thou givest the oracle of the gods.
—Hymn to Sin No. 1.