He who increases his wealth by interest and usury lays it up for one who is kind to the poor.
Parallel translations
- WEB He who increases his wealth by excessive interest gathers it for one who has pity on the poor.
- KJV He that by usury and unjust gain increaseth his substance, he shall gather it for him that will pity the poor.
- NKJV One who increases his possessions by usury and extortion Gathers it for him who will pity the poor.
- NASB One who increases his wealth by interest of any kind, Collects it for one who is gracious to the poor.
- NLT Income from charging high interest rates will end up in the pocket of someone who is kind to the poor.
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
Wealth gained by exploiting others through excessive interest will pass to someone who helps the poor. It assures that ill-gotten gain does not finally prosper the unjust.
Overview
The proverb declares that money amassed through usury and oppression will ultimately be transferred to one who shows mercy to the poor, reflecting God's providential justice. Exploitation cannot secure lasting reward. This anticipates the great reversal of God's kingdom, where the merciful are blessed and the proud are brought low (Luke 1:52-53).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Job 27:16–17Though he heaps up silver like dust and piles up a wardrobe like clay,
- Prov 13:22A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the sinner’s wealth is passed to the righteous.
- Eccl 2:26To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating that which he will hand over to one who pleases God. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
- Exod 22:25If you lend money to one of My people among you who is poor, you must not act as a creditor to him; you are not to charge him interest.
- Lev 25:36Do not take any interest or profit from him, but fear your God, that your countryman may live among you.
- Ezek 18:17He withholds his hand from harming the poor and takes no interest or usury. He keeps My ordinances and follows My statutes. Such a man will not die for his father’s iniquity. He will surely live.
- Ezek 18:8He does not engage in usury or take excess interest, but he withholds his hand from iniquity and executes true justice between men.
- Ezek 18:13He engages in usury and takes excess interest. Will this son live? He will not! Since he has committed all these abominations, he will surely die; his blood will be on his own head.
- Prov 14:31Whoever oppresses the poor taunts their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors Him.
- Prov 19:7All the brothers of a poor man hate him—how much more do his friends avoid him! He may pursue them with pleading, but they are nowhere to be found.
- 2 Sam 12:6Because he has done this thing and has shown no pity, he must pay for the lamb four times over.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 28:8 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.