The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth.
The verse draws a sharp contrast between two characters, the wicked who take on loan and fail to make repayment, and the righteous who act with compassion and open-handed giving. Generosity and mercy are thereby set forth as distinguishing marks of righteousness, standing opposite to the failure to repay.
Careless borrowing without careful attention to paying debts is dishonesty, revealing self-indulgence and indolence and a shunning of moral and physical responsibility. Such a course stands in direct opposition to the principles of Christianity. It belongs to lax, loose, and haphazard habits that are learned by precept and example and then carried into the work of God. Those trained in this deficiency perceive no harm in it and do not regard it as offensive, yet God does not accept service offered in such dishonesty.
The verse draws a sharp contrast between two characters, the wicked who take on loan and fail to make repayment, and the righteous who act with compassion and open-handed giving. Generosity and mercy are thereby set forth as distinguishing marks of righteousness, standing opposite to the failure to repay.
Careless borrowing without careful attention to paying debts is dishonesty, revealing self-indulgence and indolence and a shunning of moral and physical responsibility. Such a course stands in direct opposition to the principles of Christianity. It belongs to lax, loose, and haphazard habits that are learned by precept and example and then carried into the work of God. Those trained in this deficiency perceive no harm in it and do not regard it as offensive, yet God does not accept service offered in such dishonesty.