Exodus 22:25
25 a“If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be like a moneylender to him, and you shall not exact interest from him.Leviticus 25:35-37
Kindness for Poor Brothers
35“If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you, byou shall support him as though he were a stranger and a sojourner, and he shall live with you. 36 cTake no interest from him or profit, but dfear your God, that your brother may live beside you. 37 eYou shall not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit.Deuteronomy 23:19-20
19 f“You shall not charge interest on loans to your brother, ginterest on money, interest on food, interest on anything that is lent for interest. 20 hYou may charge a foreigner interest, but you may not charge your brother interest, ithat the Lord your God may bless you in all that you undertake in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.Nehemiah 5:1-11
Nehemiah Stops Oppression of the Poor
1Now there arose ja great outcry of the people and of their wives kagainst their Jewish brothers. 2For there were those who said, “With our sons and our daughters, we are many. So let us get grain, that we may eat and keep alive.” 3There were also those who said, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our houses to get grain because of the famine.” 4And there were those who said, “We have borrowed money for lthe king’s tax on our fields and our vineyards. 5Now mour flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, our children are as their children. Yet nwe are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but it is not in our power to help it, for other men have our fields and our vineyards.”6I was very angry when I heard otheir outcry and these words. 7I took counsel with myself, and I brought charges against the nobles and the officials. I said to them, p“You are exacting interest, each from his brother.” And I held a great assembly against them 8and said to them, “We, as far as we are able, qhave bought back our Jewish brothers who have been sold to the nations, but you even sell your brothers that they may be sold to us!” They were silent and could not find a word to say. 9So I said, “The thing that you are doing is not good. Ought you not to walk rin the fear of our God sto prevent the taunts of the nations our enemies? 10Moreover, I and my brothers and my servants are lending them money and grain. Let us abandon this exacting of interest. 11Return to them this very day their fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards, and their houses, and the percentage of money, grain, wine, and oil that you have been exacting from them.”
Ezekiel 18:13
13 tlends at interest, and takes profit; shall he then live? He shall not live. He has done all these abominations; he shall surely die; uhis blood shall be upon himself.Ezekiel 18:17
17withholds his hand from iniquity, ▼▼Septuagint; Hebrew from the poor
takes no interest or profit, obeys my rules, wand walks in my statutes; he shall not die for his father’s iniquity; xhe shall surely live. Ezekiel 22:12
12In you ythey take bribes to shed blood; zyou take interest and profit ▼▼That is, profit that comes from charging interest to the poor (compare Leviticus 25:36)
and make gain of your neighbors by extortion; but abme you have forgotten, declares the Lord God.
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