"If he beget a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood, and that doeth any one of these things, and that doeth not any of those duties, but even hath eaten upon the mountains, and denied his neighbor's wife, hath wronged the poor and needy, hath taken by robbery, hath not restored the pledge, and hath lifted up his eyes to the idols, hath committed abomination, hath given forth upon interest, and hath taken increase; shall he then live? He shall not live: he hath done all these abominations: he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.
"Now, lo, if he beget a son which seeth all his father's sins which he hath done, and feareth and doeth not such like; that hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, hath not defiled his neighbor's wife, neither hath wronged any, hath not taken aught to pledge, neither hath taken by robbery, but hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment; that hath not withdrawn his hand from the poor, that hath not received interest nor increase, hath executed my ordinances, hath walked in my statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely live. As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, robbed his brother, and did that which is not good among his people, behold, he shall die in his iniquity."
Ezekiel 22:6-12: "Behold, the princes of Israel, every one according to his power have been in thee to shed blood. In thee have they set light by father and mother; in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the sojourner; in thee have they wronged the fatherless and the widow. Thou hast despised mine holy things and hast profaned my sabbaths. Slanderous men have been in thee to shed blood; and in thee have they eaten upon the mountains; in the midst of thee they have committed lewdness. In thee have they uncovered their fathers' nakedness; in thee have they humbled her that was unclean in her impurity. And one hath committed abomination with his neighbor's wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law; and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father's daughter. In thee have they taken bribes to shed blood; thou hast taken interest and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbors by oppression and hast forgotten me saith the Lord Jehovah."
Matthew 25:26-27: "But his lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not and gather where I did not scatter; thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the bankers, and at my coming I should have received back mine own with interest."
Luke 19:22, 23: "He saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I am an austere man taking up that I laid not down and reaping that I did not sow; then wherefore gavest thou not my money into the bank, and I at my coming should have required it with usury."
Luke 16:13-15: "No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. And the Pharisees who were lovers of money heard all these things and they scoffed at him. And he said unto them, Ye are they that justify yourselves in the sight of men but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God."
It is not easy to understand how an honest, godly man, who has even medium intelligence, unclouded by prejudice, and who has confidence in the highest scholarship of the age, can deny that the revealed Word of God, in both Testaments, condemns usury or interest. It is just as difficult to explain how any one, not glaringly inconsistent, can claim that interest taking is not a sin, who bows to the divine authority of the revealed Word and who defines sin as "Any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God."