Leviticus 25:35-37: "And if thy brother be waxen poor, and his hand fail with thee, then thou shalt uphold him: as a stranger and a sojourner shall he live with thee. Take thou no interest of him or increase, but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee. Thou shalt not give him thy money upon interest, nor give him thy victuals for increase."
Deuteronomy 23:19, 20: "Thou shalt not lend upon interest to thy brother: interest of money, interest of victuals, interest of anything that is lent upon interest: unto a foreigner thou mayest lend upon interest, but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon interest, that Jehovah thy God may bless thee in all that thou puttest thy hand unto, in the land whither thou goest in to possess it."
Nehemiah 5:7-10: "Then I consulted with myself, and contended with the nobles and rulers and said unto them, Ye exact usury, every one of his brother. And I held a great assembly against them. And I said unto them, We after our ability have redeemed our brethren the Jews that were sold unto the nations; and would ye even sell your brethren, and should they be sold unto us? Then held they their peace and found never a word. Also I said, The thing ye do is not good: ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God, because of the reproach of the nations, our enemies? And I likewise, my brethren and my servants, do lend them money and grain. I pray you, let us leave off this usury."
The interest exacted by the princes and nobles was no doubt so extortionate that it could be called usury in the modern legal sense.
Psalm 15:
"Jehovah, Who shall sojourn in thy tabernacles?
Who shall dwell in thy holy hill?
He that walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness,
And speaketh the truth in his heart;
He that slandereth not with his tongue,
Nor doeth evil to his friend,
Nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor;
In whose eyes a reprobate is despised,
But who honoreth them that fear Jehovah;
He that sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not;
He that putteth not out his money to interest,
Nor taketh reward against the innocent.
He that doeth these things shall never be moved."
Proverbs 28:8: "He that augmenteth his substance by interest and increase, gathereth it for him that hath pity on the poor."
Jeremiah 15:10: "I have not lent, neither have men lent to me; yet every one of them doth curse me."
King James reads: "I have neither lent upon usury, nor have men lent to me upon usury." As Jeremiah was protesting his innocence of any wrongdoing the early translators inserted what was evidently implied while these latest revisors have omitted what was not in the original text.
Ezekiel 18:1-18: "The word of Jehovah came again unto me saying, What mean ye that ye use this proverb, concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge? As I live saith the Lord Jehovah, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine, as the soul of the father so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. But if a man be just and do that which is lawful and right, and hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither hath defiled his neighbor's wife, neither hath come near to a woman in her impurity, and hath not wronged any, but hath restored to the debtor his pledge, hath taken naught by robbery, hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment: he hath not given forth upon interest, neither hath taken any increase, that hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity, hath executed true justice between man and man, hath walked in my statutes and hath kept my ordinances, to deal truly: he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord Jehovah.