When I heard their outcry and these charges, I was very angry. I pondered them in my mind and then accused the nobles and officials. I told them, “You are charging your own people interest!” Nehemiah 5:6-7

            In Exodus 22:25, Leviticus 25:36-27 and Deuteronomy 23:19-20, the Law told the people not to charge interest to fellow Jews.  They could charge interest to others (Gentiles) but not to their own people.  God didn’t want His own people to be in debt to each other and force them to sell themselves or their family into slavery.