# Lehre und Wehre_St. Louis Missouri_Juni 1864_S179
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

Martin Chemnitz on Usury. 179

...usury [is punished] by God's curse in what one undertakes, and by expulsion from the fatherland. Thus it is said in Proverbs 28:8: "Whoever increases his wealth by usury gathers it for the benefit of the poor" — that is, through God's curse it will melt away. In Nehemiah 5:7 the authorities are commanded to put a stop to usury.

These are the threats of external punishments. But more dreadful is what follows in Exodus 22:25, 27: "If you lend money to my people, the poor among you, you shall not bring him to harm, and you shall not practice usury upon him. But if he cries out to me, I will hear him, for I am gracious." Leviticus 25:35–36: "If your brother becomes poor, you shall not take usury from him, nor interest; but you shall fear your God, so that your brother may live beside you." Thus usury conflicts with the fear of God and against the Fifth Commandment. In the same place, verses 37–38: "You shall not lend him your money at usury, for I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that I might be your God." Here it is shown how usury conflicts with the First Commandment. Psalm 15:1, 5: "LORD, who shall dwell in your tabernacle? Who shall abide upon your holy hill? — He who does not put out his money at usury." Ezekiel 18:8ff.: "He who does not lend at usury, who takes no excess from anyone, is a godly man, and he shall have life. But if he begets a son who lends at usury and takes excess — shall that one live? He shall not live, but because he has done all these abominations, he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him." But civilly, no one in the Mosaic state was put to death on account of usury. Therefore he speaks of blood, that is, of the guilt of eternal death. Ezekiel 22:12–13: "They practice usury and take excess from one another, and thus forget me, says the LORD: behold, I strike my hands together over the greed which you practice."*) You therefore contend against faith, since he says: "Thus they forget me." And Lyra rightly says that by the striking together of the hands is depicted the gesture of one mourning and indignant, and indeed not for an ordinary or trivial reason. Luke 6:34–35: "Lend, hoping for nothing in return, and you will be children of the Most High. For if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? For sinners do this also; therefore those are...

*) From this one sees that God certainly does not intend to abolish the distinction between rich and poor, but that the rich man, who possesses more than he needs, should know that he may not do with it as he pleases; that he has his wealth, among other purposes, so as to be able to lend to the needy; if he will not do this, but instead practices usury with his money upon the very one to whom he should be lending, that is a greed at which God, so to speak, claps his hands together in dismay. From this one sees that wealth is indeed, as God's Word says, not something so much to be desired, but rather a thing quite dangerous to the conscience and to salvation. "But who believes our preaching?" Almost only the poor; hence already in Luther's time this saying was on the lips of the rich:

Wer secht, dat Wucher Sunde sy, De hefft neen Geld, dat löve du my. [Whoever says usury is a sin has no money — believe you me.] D. R.