Bible Verses About Debt

Bible verses about debt are a great way to help us understand what God says about this topic. Debt can be a very difficult thing to deal with, and it can have a negative impact on our lives if we’re not careful. These verses can help us to see debt in a new light and understand how we can overcome it.

The wicked borrow and do not repay,
    but the righteous give generously.

~Psalm 37:21

 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.

~Romans 13:8

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.

~Romans 13:7

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.

~Luke 14:28

Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.

~Luke 6:30

The rich rule over the poor,
    and the borrower is slave to the lender.

~Proverbs 22:7

 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.

~Deuteronomy 15:6

 Dishonest money dwindles away, but whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow.

~Proverbs 13:11

 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

~Matthew 6:12

 When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfil it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfil your vow.

~Ecclesiastes 5:4

 When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfil it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfil your vow.

~Ecclesiastes 5:4

 Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

~1 Timothy 5:8

Do not be one who shakes hands in the pledge or puts up security for debts

~Proverbs 22:26

So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?

~Luke 16:11

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

~Matthew 6:33

 “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.

~Exodus 22:25-27

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.

~Deuteronomy 28:12

Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

~Matthew 5:42

You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your fellow Israelite owes you.

~Deuteronomy 15:3

Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.

~Luke 16:10

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.

~Deuteronomy 15:1-2

 No temptation^[a] has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted^[b] beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted,^[c] he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

~1 Corinthians 10:13

Whoever loves money never has enough;
    whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income.
    This too is meaningless.

~Ecclesiastes 5:10

Whoever puts up security for a stranger will surely suffer,
    but whoever refuses to shake hands in pledge is safe.

~Proverbs 11:15

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.

~Philippians 4:19

having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.

~Colossians 2:14

 I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.

~Luke 12:59

 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

~Luke 6:38

 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

~Luke 6:38

It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it.

~Ecclesiastes 5:5

The plans of the diligent lead to profit
    as surely as haste leads to poverty.

~Proverbs 21:5

 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.

~1 Timothy 6:10

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.

~Exodus 22:25

 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” ¹⁴ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. ¹⁵ Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.

~James 4:13-15

Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.

~Matthew 22:21

Honor the Lord with your wealth,
    with the firstfruits of all your crops.

~Proverbs 3:9

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

~Romans 12:1-2

Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.

~Matthew 22:21

 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.

~Malachi 3:10

She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.

~2 Kings 4:7

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.

~Deuteronomy 23:20

If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and are unable to support themselves among you, help them as you would a foreigner and stranger, so they can continue to live among you. ³⁶ Do not take interest or any profit from them, but fear your God, so that they may continue to live among you. ³⁷ You must not lend them money at interest or sell them food at a profit.

~Leviticus 25:35-37

Others were saying, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our homes to get grain during the famine.

~Nehemiah 5:3

 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.

~Luke 12:15

^{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}.

~Matthew 25:27

^{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}.

~Matthew 25:27

Be sure you know the condition of your flocks,
    give careful attention to your herds.

~Proverbs 27:23

The foreigners who reside among you will rise above you higher and higher, but you will sink lower and lower. ⁴⁴ They will lend to you, but you will not lend to them. They will be the head, but you will be the tail.

⁴⁵ All these curses will come on you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the Lord your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you.

~Deuteronomy 28:43-45

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

~1 Peter 5:7

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. ⁷ For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. ⁸ But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.

~1 Timothy 6:6-8

Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii,^[a] and the other fifty.

~Luke 7:41

Whoever increases wealth by taking interest or profit from the poor
    amasses it for another, who will be kind to the poor.

~Proverbs 28:8

Lazy hands make for poverty,
    but diligent hands bring wealth.

~Proverbs 10:4

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

~Romans 3:23

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.

~Luke 16:13

 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.

~Deuteronomy 28:1

 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in^[a] Christ Jesus our Lord.

~Romans 6:23

 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. ³⁵ But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

~Luke 6:34-35

A good name is more desirable than great riches;
    to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.

~Proverbs 22:1

6Let beer be for those who are perishing,
    wine for those who are in anguish!
⁷ Let them drink and forget their poverty
    and remember their misery no more.

~Proverbs 31:6-7

Plans fail for lack of counsel,
    but with many advisers they succeed.

~Proverbs 15:22

All hard work brings a profit,
    but mere talk leads only to poverty.

~Proverbs 14:23

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight.

~Proverbs 3:5-6

Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely,
    who conduct their affairs with justice.

~Psalm 112:5

~Psalm 15:5

~Job 22:6

~Exodus 22:14

~1 Corinthians 16:2

~Romans 5:8

~Proverbs 6:6-8

~Deuteronomy 15:9

~Deuteronomy 15:1

~Hebrews 9:11

~2 Kings 4:1

~Philippians 4:11-13

~2 Kings 4:1

~Mark 4:19

~Matthew 6:21

~Deuteronomy 15:1

~Matthew 6:9

~Joshua 1:8

~Deuteronomy 28:13

~1 Peter 2:17

~Ephesians 1:20-21

~2 Corinthians 9:8

~Romans 13:1

~Proverbs 27:11

~2 Chronicles 31:20

~Luke 16:5

~Matthew 18:27