²⁵ “^(A)If you lend money to My people, to the poor ^[a]among you, you are not to ^[b]act as a creditor to him; you shall not ^[c]charge him ^(B)interest.

Of Poor Countrymen

³⁵ ‘^(A)Now in case a ^[a]countryman of yours becomes poor and his ^[b]means with regard to you falter, then you are to sustain him, like a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with you. ^36 (B)Do not take ^[c]usurious interest from him, but revere your God, that your ^[d]countryman may live with you. ³⁷ You shall not give him your silver at interest, nor your food for gain.

² For there were those who said, “We, our sons and our daughters are many; therefore let us ^(A)get grain that we may eat and live.” ³ There were others who said, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our houses that we might get grain because of the famine.” ⁴ Also there were those who said, “We have borrowed money ^(B)for the king’s tax on our fields and our vineyards. ⁵ Now ^(C)our flesh is like the flesh of our brothers, our children like their children. Yet behold, ^(D)we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters are forced into bondage already, and ^[a]we are helpless because our fields and vineyards belong to others.”

⁶ Then I was very ^(E)angry when I had heard their outcry and these words. ⁷ I consulted with myself and contended with the nobles and the rulers and said to them, “^(F)You are exacting usury, each from his brother!” Therefore, I held a great assembly against them.