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Usury (in the original sense of any interest) is scripturally and doctrinally forbidden in many religions. Usury was denounced by countless spiritual leaders and philosophers of ancient times, including Plato, Aristotle, Cato, Cicero, Seneca, Plutarch, Aquinas, Muhammad, Moses, and Gautama Buddha.
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Exodus 22:25
If you lend money to a fellow Hebrew in need, do not be like a money lender, charging interest.
Leviticus 25:35-37
If any of your Israelite relatives fall into poverty and cannot support themselves, support them as you would a resident foreigner and allow them to live with you. Do not demand an advance or charge interest on the money you lend them. Instead, show your fear of God by letting them live with you as your relatives. Remember, do not charge your relatives interest on anything you lend them, whether money or food.
Deuteronomy 23:19
Do not charge interest on the loans you make to a fellow Israelite, whether it is money, food, or anything else that may be loaned with interest.
Deuteronomy 23:20
You may charge interest to foreigners, but not to Israelites, so the LORD your God may bless you in everything you do in the land you are about to enter and occupy.
Nehemiah 5:7
After thinking about the situation, I spoke out against these nobles and officials. I told them, “You are oppressing your own relatives by charging them interest when they borrow money!” Then I called a public meeting to deal with the problem.
Nehemiah 5:10
I myself, as well as my brothers and my workers, have been lending the people money and grain, but now let us stop this business of loans.
Psalm 15:5
Those who do not charge interest on the money they lend, and who refuse to accept bribes to testify against the innocent. Such people will stand firm forever.
Proverbs 28:8
A person who makes money by charging interest will lose it. It will end up in the hands of someone who is kind to the poor.
Jeremiah 15:10
Then I said, “What sadness is mine, my mother. Oh, that I had died at birth! I am hated everywhere I go. I am neither a lender who has threatened to foreclose nor a borrower who refuses to pay–yet they all curse me.”
Ezekiel 18:8-9
And suppose he grants loans without interest, stays away from injustice, is honest and fair when judging others, and faithfully obeys my laws and regulations. Anyone who does these things is just and will surely live, says the Sovereign Lord.
Ezekiel 18:13
…and lends money at interest. Should such a sinful person live? No! He must die and must take full blame.
Ezekiel 18:17
…helps the poor, does not lend money at interest, and obeys all my regulations and laws. Such a person will not die because of his father’s sins; he will surely live.
Ezekiel 22:12
There are hired murderers, loan racketeers, and extortioners everywhere! They never even think of me and my commands, says the Sovereign Lord. Biblical characterization as slavery The Bible characterizes usury as a form of slavery:
“The poor are ruled by the rich, and those who borrow are slaves of moneylenders.” – Proverbs 22:7
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