Leviticus 25:35

The Message

“If one of your brothers becomes indigent and cannot support himself, help him, the same as you would a foreigner or a guest so that he can continue to live in your neighborhood. Don’t gouge him with interest charges; out of reverence for your God help your brother to continue to live with you in the neighborhood. Don’t take advantage of his plight by running up big interest charges on his loans, and don’t give him food for profit. I am your God who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.

Cross References

Nehemiah 5:1

A great protest was mounted by the people, including the wives, against their fellow Jews. Some said, “We have big families, and we need food just to survive.”

Nehemiah 5:3

Others said, “We’re having to mortgage our fields and vineyards and homes to get enough grain to keep from starving.”

Job 31:16

“Have I ignored the needs of the poor, turned my back on the indigent, Taken care of my own needs and fed my own face while they languished? Wasn’t my home always open to them? Weren’t they always welcome at my table?

Psalm 41:1

Dignify those who are down on their luck; you’ll feel good—that’s what God does. God looks after us all, makes us robust with life— Lucky to be in the land, we’re free from enemy worries. Whenever we’re sick and in bed, God becomes our nurse, nurses us back to health.

Exodus 22:21

“Don’t abuse or take advantage of strangers; you, remember, were once strangers in Egypt.

Exodus 22:25

“If you lend money to my people, to any of the down-and-out among you, don’t come down hard on them and gouge them with interest.

Exodus 23:9

“Don’t take advantage of a stranger. You know what it’s like to be a stranger; you were strangers in Egypt.

Proverbs 14:31

You insult your Maker when you exploit the powerless; when you’re kind to the poor, you honor God.

Proverbs 17:5

Whoever mocks poor people insults their Creator; gloating over misfortune is a punishable crime.

Proverbs 19:17

Mercy to the needy is a loan to God, and God pays back those loans in full.

Leviticus 25:25

“If one of your brothers becomes poor and has to sell any of his land, his nearest relative is to come and buy back what his brother sold. If a man has no one to redeem it but he later prospers and earns enough for its redemption, he is to calculate the value since he sold it and refund the balance to the man to whom he sold it; he can then go back to his own land. If he doesn’t get together enough money to repay him, what he sold remains in the possession of the buyer until the year of Jubilee. In the Jubilee it will be returned and he can go back and live on his land.

Luke 6:35

“I tell you, love your enemies. Help and give without expecting a return. You’ll never—I promise—regret it. Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we’re at our worst. Our Father is kind; you be kind.

Romans 12:20

Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he’s thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don’t let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.

2 Corinthians 9:1

If I wrote any more on this relief offering for the poor Christians, I’d be repeating myself. I know you’re on board and ready to go. I’ve been bragging about you all through Macedonia province, telling them, “Achaia province has been ready to go on this since last year.” Your enthusiasm by now has spread to most of them.

Deuteronomy 23:19

Don’t charge interest to your kinsmen on any loan: not for money or food or clothing or anything else that could earn interest. You may charge foreigners interest, but you may not charge your brothers interest; that way God, your God, will bless all the work that you take up and the land that you are entering to possess.