In this poem Lamentations. 4 the distinctive idea is, that the miseries Lamentations 4:1-11 which have befallen Judah are the punishment of her sin Lamentations 4:12-20, and will therefore end - when chastisement has had its proper effect - in her restoration Lamentations 4:21-22.

The present deplorable sate of the nation is now contrasted with its ancient prosperity, Lamentations 4:1-12; and the unhappy change ascribed, in a great degree, to the profligacy of the priests and prophets, Lamentations 4:13-16. The national calamities are tenderly lamented, Lamentations 4:17-20. The ruin of the Edomites also, who had insulted the Jews in their distress, is ironically predicted, Lamentations 4:21. See Psalm 137:7, and Obadiah 1:10-12. The chapter closes with a gracious promise of deliverance from the Babylonish captivity, Lamentations 4:22.

INTRODUCTION TO LAMENTATIONS 4
The prophet begins this chapter with a complaint of the ill usage of the dear children of God, and precious sons of Zion, Lamentations 4:1; relates the dreadful effects of the famine during the siege of Jerusalem, Lamentations 4:3; the taking and destruction of that city he imputes to the wrath of God; and represents it as incredible to the kings and inhabitants of the earth, Lamentations 4:11; the causes of which were the sins of the prophets, priests, and people, Lamentations 4:13; expresses the vain hopes they once had, but now were given up entirely, their king being taken, Lamentations 4:17; and the chapter is concluded with a prophecy of the destruction of the Edomites, and of the return of the Jews from captivity, Lamentations 4:21.

The deplorable state of the nation is contrasted with its ancient prosperity.

Submission under the Judgment of God, and Hope
1 How the gold becomes dim, - the fine gold changeth, -
Sacred stones are scattered about at the top of every street!
2 The dear sons of Zion, who are precious as fine gold, -
How they are esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of a potters hands!
3 [But] the daughter of my people [hath become] cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.
4 The tongue of the suckling cleaveth to his palate for thirst;
Young children ask for bread, [but] there is none breaking [it] for them.
5 Those who ate dainties [before] are desolate in the streets;
Those who were carried on scarlet embrace dunghills.
6 The iniquity of the daughter of my people became greater than the sin of Sodom,
Which was overthrown as in a moment, though no hands were laid on her.
7 Her princes were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk,
They were redder in body than corals, their form was [that of] a sapphire.
8 `Their form is darker than blackness, - they are not recognised in the streets;
Their skin adhereth closely to their bones, - it hath become dry, like wood.
9 Better are those slain with the sword than those slain with hunger;
For these pine away, pierced through from [want of] the fruits of the field.
10 The hands of women [who were once] tender-hearted, have boiled their own children;
They became food to them in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
11 Jahveh accomplished His wrath: He poured out the burning of His anger;
And kindled a fire in Zion, and it devoured her foundations.
12 Would the kinds of the earth, all the inhabitants of the world; not believe
That an adversary and an enemy would enter in at the gates of Jerusalem.
13 Because of the sins of her prophets, the iniquities of her priests,
Who shed blood of righteous ones in her midst,
14 They wander [like] blind men in the streets; they are defiled with blood,
So that [people] could not touch their clothes.
15 "Keep off! it is unclean!" they cried to them, "keep off! keep off! touch not!"
When they fled, they also wandered;
[People] say among the nations, "They must no longer sojourn [here]."
16 The face of Jahveh hath scattered them; no longer doth He look on them:
They regard not the priests, they respect not old men.
17 Still do our eyes pine away, [looking] for our help, [which is] vanity:
In our watching, we watched for a nation [that] will not help.
18 They hunt our steps, so that we cannot go in our streets;
Our end is near, our days are full, - yea, our end is come.
19 Our persecutors were swifter than the eagles of heaven;
They pursued us on the mountains, in the wilderness they laid wait for us.
20 The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of Jahveh, was caught in their pits,
[Of] whom we thought, "In His shadow we shall live among the nations."
21 Be glad and rejoice, O daughter of Edom, dwelling in the land of Uz
To thee also shall the cup pass; thou shalt be drunk, and make thyself naked.
22 Thy guilt is at an end, O daughter of Zion; He will no more carry thee captive:
He visiteth thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom; He discovereth thy sins.
Lamentations 4:1-22
The lamentation over the terrible calamity that has befallen Jerusalem is distinguished in this poem from the lamentations in Lamentations 1 and 2, not merely by the fact that in it the fate of the several classes of the population is contemplated, but chiefly by the circumstance that the calamity is set forth as a well-merited punishment by God for the grievous sins of the inhabitants of Jerusalem. This consideration forms the chief feature in the whole poem, from the beginning to the end of which there predominates the hope that Zion will not perish, but that the appointed punishment will terminate, and then fall on their now triumphant enemies. In this fundamental idea of the poem, compared with the first two, there is plainly an advance towards the due recognition of the suffering as a punishment; from this point it is possible to advance, not merely to the hope regarding the future, with which the poem concludes, but also the prayer for deliverance in Lamentations 5. The contents of the poem are the following: The princes and inhabitants of Zion are sunk into a terrible state of misery, because their guilt was greater than the sin of Sodom (Lamentations 4:1-11). Jerusalem has been delivered into the hands of her enemies on account of her prophets and priests, who have shed the blood of righteous ones (Lamentations 4:12-16), and because the people have placed their trust on the vain help of man (Lamentations 4:17-20). For this they must atone; for the present, however, the enemy may triumph; the guilt of the daughter of Zion will come to an end, and then the judgment will befall her enemies (Lamentations 4:21, Lamentations 4:22).