Bible Verses about Debt

Compiled by The BibleStudyTools Staff on 08/23/2019

What does the Bible say about Debt? Discover the top Bible verses about Debt from the Old and New Testaments. Read through the biblical references of Debt to learn more about its meaning and significance. May you find some insight from these related scripture quotes!

To find the full context of shorter scripture quotes, click on "Chapter" above each verse.

8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.
23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.
24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of goldwas brought to him.
25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’
27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’
30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.
31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to.
33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’
34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
41 “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii,and the other fifty.
42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.” “You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.
27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to.
Matthew 18:20 NIV
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.
24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of goldwas brought to him.
25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’
30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
6 Do not take a pair of millstones—not even the upper one—as security for a debt, because that would be taking a person’s livelihood as security.
26 Do not be one who shakes hands in pledge or puts up security for debts;
26 Do not be one who shakes hands in pledge or puts up security for debts;
27 if you lack the means to pay, your very bed will be snatched from under you.
9 The fatherless child is snatched from the breast; the infant of the poor is seized for a debt.
1 At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts.
2 This is how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel any loan they have made to a fellow Israelite. They shall not require payment from anyone among their own people, because the LORD’s time for canceling debts has been proclaimed.
3 You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your fellow Israelite owes you.
4 However, there need be no poor people among you, for in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you,
5 if only you fully obey the LORD your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today.
6 For the LORD your God will bless you as he has promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. You will rule over many nations but none will rule over you.
7 If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them.
8 Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need.
9 Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: “The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near,” so that you do not show ill will toward the needy among your fellow Israelites and give them nothing. They may then appeal to the LORD against you, and you will be found guilty of sin.
10 Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.
11 There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.
31 “When the neighboring peoples bring merchandise or grain to sell on the Sabbath, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on any holy day. Every seventh year we will forgo working the land and will cancel all debts.
2 All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their commander. About four hundred men were with him.
1 At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts.
2 This is how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel any loan they have made to a fellow Israelite. They shall not require payment from anyone among their own people, because the LORD’s time for canceling debts has been proclaimed.
7 The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.
21 The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously;
15 Whoever puts up security for a stranger will surely suffer, but whoever refuses to shake hands in pledge is safe.
25 “If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not treat it like a business deal; charge no interest.
26 If you take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, return it by sunset,
27 because that cloak is the only covering your neighbor has. What else can they sleep in? When they cry out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.
25 “If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not treat it like a business deal; charge no interest.
19 Do not charge a fellow Israelite interest, whether on money or food or anything else that may earn interest.
20 You may charge a foreigner interest, but not a fellow Israelite, so that the LORD your God may bless you in everything you put your hand to in the land you are entering to possess.
12 The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.
Matthew 6:24
24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
10 When you make a loan of any kind to your neighbor, do not go into their house to get what is offered to you as a pledge.
11 Stay outside and let the neighbor to whom you are making the loan bring the pledge out to you.
12 If the neighbor is poor, do not go to sleep with their pledge in your possession.
13 Return their cloak by sunset so that your neighbor may sleep in it. Then they will thank you, and it will be regarded as a righteous act in the sight of the LORD your God.
6 You demanded security from your relatives for no reason; you stripped people of their clothing, leaving them naked.
8 They lie down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge. In the house of their god they drink wine taken as fines.
42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
5 It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it.
8 Whoever increases wealth by taking interest or profit from the poor amasses it for another, who will be kind to the poor.
7 Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
7 If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them.
27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
39 “ ‘If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to you, do not make them work as slaves.
47 “ ‘If a foreigner residing among you becomes rich and any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to the foreigner or to a member of the foreigner’s clan,
1 This is what the LORD says: “Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce with which I sent her away? Or to which of my creditors did I sell you? Because of your sins you were sold; because of your transgressions your mother was sent away.
1 If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.
8 Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
Give all you have, and have faith that God will provide the rest!
10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.
10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?
18 One who has no sense shakes hands in pledge and puts up security for a neighbor.
Your Daily Verse - Philippians 4:16
19 And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.
Your Daily Verse - Matthew 6:33
33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
3 Others were saying, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our homes to get grain during the famine.”
4 Still others were saying, “We have had to borrow money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards.
26 They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be a blessing.
8 He does not lend to them at interest or take a profit from them. He withholds his hand from doing wrong and judges fairly between two parties.
13 He lends at interest and takes a profit. Will such a man live? He will not! Because he has done all these detestable things, he is to be put to death; his blood will be on his own head.
17 He withholds his hand from mistreating the poor and takes no interest or profit from them. He keeps my laws and follows my decrees. He will not die for his father’s sin; he will surely live.
12 In you are people who accept bribes to shed blood; you take interest and make a profit from the poor. You extort unjust gain from your neighbors. And you have forgotten me, declares the Sovereign LORD.