Scripture · Old Testament
Psalms 37:21
Psalms 37:21 is verse 21 of Psalms chapter 37, shown here in the Berean Standard Bible.
Berean Standard Bible
The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous are gracious and giving.
King James Version
The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth.
World English Bible
The wicked borrow, and don’t pay back, but the righteous give generously.
Read in context
Psalms 37:19–23 · Berean Standard Bible
19 In the time of evil they will not be ashamed, and in the days of famine they will be satisfied.
20 But the wicked and enemies of the LORD will perish like the glory of the fields. They will vanish; like smoke they will fade away.
21 The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous are gracious and giving.
22 Surely those He blesses will inherit the land, but the cursed will be destroyed.
23 The steps of a man are ordered by the LORD who takes delight in his journey.
Read all of Psalms 37Hebrew words
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Study Psalms 37:21
Cross-references
The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge lists these related verses. Scripture text comes from the Berean Standard Bible.
Deuteronomy 28:12The LORD will open the heavens, His abundant storehouse, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations, but borrow from none.
Deuteronomy 28:43The foreigner living among you will rise higher and higher above you, while you sink down lower and lower.
Deuteronomy 28:44He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him. He will be the head, and you will be the tail.
2 Kings 4:1Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant, my husband, is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD. And now his creditor is coming to take my two children as his slaves!”
2 Kings 4:2“How can I help you?” asked Elisha. “Tell me, what do you have in the house?” She answered, “Your servant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.”
2 Kings 4:3“Go,” said Elisha, “borrow jars, even empty ones, from all your neighbors. Do not gather just a few.
2 Kings 4:4Then go inside, shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour oil into all these jars, setting the full ones aside.”
2 Kings 4:5So she left him, and after she had shut the door behind her and her sons, they kept bringing jars to her, and she kept pouring.
Nehemiah 5:1About that time there was a great outcry from the people and their wives against their fellow Jews.
Nehemiah 5:2Some were saying, “We and our sons and daughters are numerous. We must get grain in order to eat and stay alive.”
Nehemiah 5:3Others were saying, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our homes to get grain during the famine.”
Nehemiah 5:4Still others were saying, “We have borrowed money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards.
Nehemiah 5:5We and our children are just like our countrymen and their children, yet we are subjecting our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters are already enslaved, but we are powerless to redeem them because our fields and vineyards belong to others.”
Proverbs 22:7The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.
Psalms 112:5It is well with the man who is generous and lends freely, whose affairs are guided by justice.
Psalms 112:9He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn will be lifted high in honor.
Deuteronomy 15:9Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought in your heart: “The seventh year, the year of release, is near,” so that you look upon your poor brother begrudgingly and give him nothing. He will cry out to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.
Deuteronomy 15:10Give generously to him, and do not let your heart be grieved when you do so. And because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything to which you put your hand.
Deuteronomy 15:11For there will never cease to be poor in the land; that is why I am commanding you to open wide your hand to your brother and to the poor and needy in your land.
Job 31:16If I have denied the desires of the poor or allowed the widow’s eyes to fail,
Job 31:17if I have eaten my morsel alone, not sharing it with the fatherless—
Job 31:18though from my youth I reared him as would a father, and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow—
Job 31:19if I have seen one perish for lack of clothing, or a needy man without a cloak,
Job 31:20if his heart has not blessed me for warming him with the fleece of my sheep,
Isaiah 32:8But a noble man makes honorable plans; he stands up for worthy causes.
Isaiah 58:7Isn’t it to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your home, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Isaiah 58:8Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will come quickly. Your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
Isaiah 58:9Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry out, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and malicious talk,
Isaiah 58:10and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light will go forth in the darkness, and your night will be like noonday.
Luke 6:30Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what is yours, do not demand it back.
Acts 11:29So the disciples, each according to his ability, decided to send relief to the brothers living in Judea.
Acts 20:35In everything, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus Himself: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
2 Corinthians 8:9For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.
2 Corinthians 9:6Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.
2 Corinthians 9:7Each one should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not out of regret or compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver.
2 Corinthians 9:8And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
2 Corinthians 9:9As it is written: “He has scattered abroad His gifts to the poor; His righteousness endures forever.”
2 Corinthians 9:10Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your store of seed and will increase the harvest of your righteousness.
2 Corinthians 9:11You will be enriched in every way to be generous on every occasion, so that through us your giving will produce thanksgiving to God.
2 Corinthians 9:12For this ministry of service is not only supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanksgiving to God.
2 Corinthians 9:13Because of the proof this ministry provides, the saints will glorify God for your obedient confession of the gospel of Christ, and for the generosity of your contribution to them and to all the others.
2 Corinthians 9:14And their prayers for you will express their affection for you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you.
2 Corinthians 9:15Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!
Hebrews 6:10For God is not unjust. He will not forget your work and the love you have shown for His name as you have ministered to the saints and continue to do so.
Hebrews 13:16And do not neglect to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.