Governmental corruption and unchecked greed ultimately lead to a society's complete moral collapse and the abandonment of faith. After recounting a series of other grave offenses, the prophetic focus returns to the ultimate crime of bloodshed, as this was the specific sin that sealed the city's final judgment and doom [מלבי״ם].
The accusations of accepting bribes to shed blood are directed squarely at the leadership, namely the kings, ministers, and judges. These leaders accepted payouts from those involved in legal disputes in order to skew justice. As a result, innocent people were put to death, or conversely, actual murderers were protected and their crimes justified [רד״ק, מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ, צאינה וראינה].
The rebuke continues with the condemnation of charging interest on loans. While the dual terms used for this practice fundamentally address the same issue, the repetition serves to emphasize the severity of the crime, as the perpetrators were violating two distinct negative commandments [רד״ק]. However, there is a subtle distinction between the two forms of interest mentioned: one specifically refers to the interest collected on monetary loans, while the other refers to the interest demanded when lending food [מצודת דוד].
The leadership's relentless pursuit of wealth through extortion is understood in two distinct ways. One approach views their actions as direct robbery and destruction. In their greed, they did not limit their theft to the weak and the poor, but their oppression extended even to their own friends and close relatives [רש״י, מלבי״ם, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. A second approach understands their actions through the lens of profit and the desire for wealth [מצודת ציון]. According to this perspective, the leaders took the funds they had ruthlessly extorted from the vulnerable citizens and used it to enrich their allies on the global stage, namely foreign empires like Assyria and Egypt. They used the stolen wealth to bribe these nations, hoping to secure their military assistance against approaching enemies [רש״י, רד״ק, מצודת דוד, מלבי״ם].
This tragic sequence of events culminates in the ultimate accusation of forgetting God completely. This forgetfulness highlights the profound disconnect caused by their actions, which unfolded in two complementary ways. First, the people simply ignored God's warnings and His commandments that explicitly forbade these corrupt practices, choosing instead to chase their own selfish desires [רד״ק, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Second, by using extorted money to buy the favor of foreign empires, they demonstrated a complete failure to trust in God or seek His help. They chose to rely entirely on foreign powers, the very nations that would eventually bring about their destruction [רד״ק, מצודת דוד].