The sermons of Master Henry Smith gathered into one volume. Printed according to his…The sermons of Maister Henrie Smith gathered into one volume. Printed according to his…

Now you would understand the last question;¹ if you have been usurers already, what you should do with that money which you have gained by Usury? Surely, even as Zacheus did, restore it again. If you cannot say as Samuel said,² Whose goods have I taken? then you must say as Zacheus said, Whose goods have I kept? ³The best thing is to do no man wrong; but the next to that is, to make him amends. This God signifieth when he saith,⁴ Put away the execrable thing from you: that is, Let no unlawful thing stay in your hands, like the wedge of Achan, which he had got by sin, the same law serveth for all which is got wrongfully, which was instituted against thieves,⁵ Restore it again: the reason of this law is, because the sin is not remitted, until the debt be restored. For as humility is the repentance of pride, and abstinence is the repentance of surfeit, and alms is the repentance of covetousness, and forgiveness is the repentance of malice; so restitution ⟨p. 199⟩is the repentance of usury. As he which is not humble, doth not repent his pride; he which doth not abstain, doth not repent his gluttony; he which doth not forgive, doth not repent his malice; so he which doth not restore, doth not repent his usury: for how can he be said to repent for his Usury, which liveth by usury still? therefore Daniel saith to Nebuchadnezzar,⁶ Break off thy sins by righteousness, showing, that nothing but righteousness can break unrighteousness. As diseases are healed by the contrary, so pride is healed by humility, gluttony by abstinence, malice by forgiveness, covetousness by alms, and usury by restoring. This Paul calleth,⁷ The revenge of a Christian, when he takes revenge upon his sins, and punisheth his lusts, so that he maketh them do contrary to that which they would do. Therefore you must restore that which you have got by usury, or else you do not repent of your usury.