35 Bible Verses for Those Struggling with Debt

Debt can feel like a heavy chain around your neck, stealing your peace and limiting your freedom. Every month, those payments come due, and you wonder if you’ll ever break free from the cycle. The interest keeps accumulating, the minimum payments barely touch the principal, and you feel trapped in a financial prison of your own making.

Maybe it started with good intentions or unexpected circumstances. Medical bills, job loss, education costs, or simply trying to make ends meet led to decisions that now haunt your mailbox every month. The shame can be overwhelming, especially when you feel like you’re drowning while everyone around you seems financially stable.

But here’s what I want you to know: God sees your struggle and He hasn’t forgotten about you. Throughout Scripture, we see God’s heart for those burdened by debt and His desire to set the captives free. These verses aren’t just ancient words; they’re promises of hope, wisdom for your journey, and reminders that your current situation isn’t your final destination. God specializes in making a way where there seems to be no way.

Bible Verses for Those Struggling with Debt

1. Deuteronomy 15:1-2 – The Lord’s Release from Debt

At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. 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.

New International Version (NIV)

2. Romans 13:8 – Owe No One Anything Except Love

Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

English Standard Version (ESV)

3. Proverbs 22:7 – The Borrower Is Slave to the Lender

The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower is servant to the lender.

New King James Version (NKJV)

4. Luke 14:28 – Count the Cost

But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it?

New Living Translation (NLT)

5. Psalm 37:21 – The Righteous Give Generously

The wicked person borrows and does not repay, but the righteous one is gracious and gives.

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

6. Matthew 6:12 – Forgive Us Our Debts

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

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

7. 2 Kings 4:7 – Go Sell the Oil and Pay Your Debt

Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.

King James Version (KJV)

8. Nehemiah 5:11 – Restore What Was Taken

Restore to them, this very day, their fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards, and their houses, and the interest on money, grain, wine, and oil that you have been exacting from them.

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

9. Luke 7:42 – When They Could Not Pay

Neither of them could pay up, so the moneylender canceled both debts. Which of them will love him more?

The Message (MSG)

10. Proverbs 6:1-5 – Deliver Yourself from Debt

My son, if you have become surety (guaranteed a debt or obligation) for your neighbor, if you have given your pledge for [the debt of] a stranger or another [outside your family], you have been snared with the words of your lips, you have been caught by [your own] words. Do this now, my son, and release yourself [from the obligation]; since you have come into the hand (power) of your neighbor, go humble yourself, and plead with your neighbor [to pay his debt and release you]. Give no [unnecessary] sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids; tear yourself away [from the trap] like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, and like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

Amplified Bible (AMP)

11. Deuteronomy 28:12 – You Will Lend and Not Borrow

The Lord will open for you his good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain for your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will not borrow from any.

New English Translation (NET)

12. Psalm 112:5 – Good Comes to One Who Lends Generously

It is well with the man who is gracious and lends; He will maintain his cause in judgment.

Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

13. Luke 6:35 – Lend Expecting Nothing Back

Love your enemies and be good to them. Lend without expecting to be paid back. Then you will get a great reward, and you will be the true children of God in heaven. He is good even to people who are unthankful and cruel.

Contemporary English Version (CEV)

14. Deuteronomy 15:6 – You Will Rule Over Many Nations

The Lord your God will bless you, as he has promised. You will lend money to many nations, but you will not have to borrow from any; you will have control over many nations, but no nation will have control over you.

Good News Translation (GNT)

15. Proverbs 3:27-28 – Do Not Withhold Good When You Can

Don’t withhold good from someone who deserves it when you have the ability to help. If you have something now, don’t say to your neighbor, “Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you.”

New Century Version (NCV)

16. Matthew 18:27 – The Master Forgave the Debt

So the master of that slave felt compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.

International Standard Version (ISV)

17. Leviticus 25:35-36 – Help Your Fellow Israelite

If your brother becomes poor and his hand fails among you, then you are to strengthen him, like the outsider and the temporary resident, so that he may live among you. You are not to take interest or profit from him, but you are to fear your God so that your brother may live among you.

Tree of Life Version (TLV)

18. Psalm 15:5 – Does Not Put Out Money at Interest

who does not put out his money at interest, and does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.

Lexham English Bible (LEB)

19. Exodus 22:25 – Do Not Charge Interest to the Poor

If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be to him as a creditor; neither shall you charge him interest.

World English Bible (WEB)

20. Deuteronomy 24:12-13 – Return the Pledge by Sunset

And if he be a poor man, thou shalt not sleep with his pledge; thou shalt surely restore to him the pledge when the sun goeth down, that he may sleep in his garment, and bless thee: and it shall be righteousness unto thee before Jehovah thy God.

American Standard Version (ASV)

21. Isaiah 55:1 – Come Without Money

Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

Revised Standard Version (RSV)

22. Matthew 5:42 – Give to One Who Begs

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

New American Bible (NAB)

23. Luke 6:34 – If You Lend to Get Back

And if you lend to them of whom you hope to receive, what thank have you? for sinners also lend to sinners, for to receive as much again.

Douay-Rheims Bible (DRB)

24. Deuteronomy 15:8 – Open Your Hand Freely

but thou shalt surely open thy hand unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need in that which he wanteth.

English Revised Version (ERV)

25. Proverbs 11:15 – Suffers Harm Who Puts Up Security

Evil he suffereth who is surety for a stranger, And whoso is hating suretyship is confident.

Young’s Literal Translation (YLT)

26. Proverbs 17:18 – One Lacking Sense Gives a Pledge

A man void of understanding striketh hands, becoming surety for his neighbour.

Darby Translation (DARBY)

27. Proverbs 20:16 – Take His Garment When He Pledges

Take a man’s garment when he has become security for a stranger, and hold him in pledge when he is surety for foreigners.

Weymouth New Testament (WNT)

28. Ezekiel 18:8 – Does Not Lend at Interest

He that putteth not out his money to vsurie, nether taketh any encrease: he withdraweth his hande from iniquitie, executeth true iudgement betweene man and man.

Wycliffe Bible (WYC)

29. Ezekiel 22:12 – You Take Interest and Profit

In thee haue they taken giftes to shed blood: thou hast taken vsurie and the encrease, and thou hast defrauded thy neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, sayth the Lorde God.

Geneva Bible (GNV)

30. Leviticus 25:37 – Do Not Lend at Interest

Thou shalt not giue him thy money vpon vsurie, nor lende him thy victuals for increase.

Bishop’s Bible

31. Psalm 15:5 – Lends Without Interest

He that geueth not his money vpon vsury, nor taketh rewarde agaynst the innocent. He that doth these thynges, shall neuer fall.

Tyndale Bible

32. 1 Timothy 6:10 – Love of Money Is Root of Evil

For the love of money is the first step toward all kinds of sin. Some people have even turned away from God because of their love for it, and as a result have pierced themselves with many sorrows.

The Living Bible (TLB)

33. Habakkuk 2:6-7 – Woe to Him Who Increases What Is Not His

Won’t all these peoples mock him, composing proverbs and riddles against him? They will say: ‘Woe to him who amasses what is not his own—how much longer?—and loads himself with goods taken in pledge.’ Will not your creditors suddenly rise up, and those who disturb you awaken? Then you will become their prey.

The Passion Translation (TPT)

34. Proverbs 22:26-27 – Do Not Be One Who Shakes Hands

Don’t be one of those who shakes hands as a promise or who cosigns another person’s loan. If you can’t pay, why should your bed be repossessed while you sleep?

The Voice Bible (VOICE)

35. Matthew 18:25 – Since He Was Not Able to Pay

The servant was not able to pay it back. So the master ordered that everything the man owned should be sold. His wife and children would be sold to pay back the debt.

New International Reader’s Version (NIrV)

Our Thoughts On What the Bible Says About Struggling with Debt

Scripture presents a balanced view of debt that acknowledges both its dangers and God’s heart for those trapped by it. The Bible doesn’t condemn those struggling with debt, but it does warn about its enslaving power and provides wisdom for both avoiding and escaping financial bondage. God understands that debt can happen through circumstances beyond our control, and His word offers hope and practical guidance.

What stands out in these passages is God’s consistent call for compassion toward debtors and His desire for their freedom. The Old Testament includes provisions for debt forgiveness and prohibitions against charging interest to the poor, revealing God’s heart for justice and mercy. At the same time, Scripture emphasizes personal responsibility and the importance of keeping our word when we’ve made commitments.

The biblical path out of debt involves both divine intervention and human responsibility. God provides wisdom, opportunities, and sometimes miraculous provision, while we contribute diligence, sacrifice, and faithful stewardship. The goal isn’t just debt elimination but learning to live within our means and becoming generous givers who can help others in their time of need.

Say This Prayer

Heavenly Father, I come to You feeling burdened by the weight of debt that seems to control my life. I confess that some of this debt came from poor decisions, and some from circumstances beyond my control. Whatever the cause, I acknowledge that I need Your help to find freedom.

I repent for any ways I’ve been unfaithful with money, lived beyond my means, or failed to seek Your guidance before making financial commitments. Forgive me for the worry and stress I’ve allowed debt to bring into my life, and for any ways I’ve failed to trust in Your provision.

Lord, I surrender my financial situation to You completely. Give me wisdom to make a plan for paying off these debts and the discipline to stick with it. Provide opportunities for increased income and help me find ways to reduce expenses. Show me practical steps I can take today to begin walking toward financial freedom.

Help me to be patient with the process and faithful in small things. Teach me contentment and gratitude even while I work toward debt freedom. Make me a person of integrity who honors every commitment I’ve made. Thank You that my worth isn’t determined by my financial situation and that You have a plan for my complete restoration.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.