And if thou sell ought unto thy neighbour, or buyest ought of thy neighbour’s hand, ye shall not oppress one another:
Parallel translations
- WEB “‘If you sell anything to your neighbor, or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another.
- BSB If you make a sale to your neighbor or a purchase from him, you must not take advantage of each other.
- NKJV And if you sell anything to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor’s hand, you shall not oppress one another.
- NASB Furthermore, if you make a sale to your friend, or buy from your friend’s hand, you shall not wrong one another.
- NLT “When you make an agreement with your neighbor to buy or sell property, you must not take advantage of each other.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
In buying and selling, Israelites were not to wrong one another. Economic dealings were to be honest and fair.
Overview
God required integrity in all transactions, forbidding exploitation in trade between neighbors. This grounded everyday commerce in justice and love for one's neighbor. It reflects God's character of righteousness, which the gospel works out in transformed, honest relationships.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 32
- Lev 19:13Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.
- Lev 25:17Ye shall not therefore oppress one another; but thou shalt fear thy God:for I am the LORD your God.
- Amos 5:11–12Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them.
- Ezek 22:12–13In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD.
- Ezek 22:7In thee have they set light by father and mother: in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger: in thee have they vexed the fatherless and the widow.
- Jas 5:1–5Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
- 1 Sam 12:3–4Behold, here I am: witness against me before the LORD, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you.
- Isa 58:6Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
- Mic 2:2–3And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.
- Mic 6:10–12Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is abominable?
- Amos 8:4–7Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail,
- Deut 16:19–20Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.
- 2 Chr 16:10Then Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in a prison house; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. And Asa oppressed some of the people the same time.
- Neh 9:36–37Behold, we are servants this day, and for the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it:
- Isa 3:12–15As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.
- Prov 14:31He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that honoureth him hath mercy on the poor.
- Ps 10:18To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress.
- Prov 22:16He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches, and he that giveth to the rich, shall surely come to want.
- Prov 28:16The prince that wanteth understanding is also a great oppressor: but he that hateth covetousness shall prolong his days.
- Mic 7:3That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up.
- Jer 22:17But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.
- Prov 28:3A poor man that oppresseth the poor is like a sweeping rain which leaveth no food.
- Prov 21:13Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.
- 1 Cor 6:8Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren.
- Prov 28:8He that by usury and unjust gain increaseth his substance, he shall gather it for him that will pity the poor.
- Isa 5:7For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.
- Eccl 5:8If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they.
- Isa 33:15He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;
- Luke 3:14And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.
- Isa 1:17Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
- Judg 4:3And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD: for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel.
- Job 20:19–20Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor; because he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not;
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Christ at the center
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 25:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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