What does Lamentations Chapter 4 say, and which statements belong to its speaker?

Lamentations 4 contrasts dim gold and scattered sanctuary stones with noble Sion sons esteemed as earthen vessels. Sea monsters nurse young while the people’s daughter is cruel like the ostrich. A thirsty suckling’s tongue sticks, children ask bread with none to break it, delicately fed people die and scarlet-reared people embrace dung. The people’s iniquity is greater than Sodom’s sin, whose overthrow was momentary. Nazarites once whiter than snow and purer than milk, ruddy like old ivory and fairer than sapphire, become coal-black, unknown and wood-dry with skin on bones. Sword-death is called better than slow hunger. Pitiful women boil children for food; wrath and fire consume Sion’s foundations.

Kings and inhabitants would not have believed an enemy could enter Jerusalem. Prophets’ and priests’ sins include shedding the just’s blood. Blood-defiled wandering, held-up skirts and cries to depart and not touch precede division and disregard, with priests and ancients denied respect and pity. Eyes wait vainly on a nation unable to save; slipped steps and coming end precede eagle-swift pursuers in mountains and wilderness. Neither Egypt nor a diplomatic negotiation is named here.

The breath of the mouth, Christ the Lord, is taken in their sins, with remembered hope of living under his shadow among Gentiles. The edition separately gives the literal anointed-king sense and spiritual relation to Christ suffering for sins. Edom in Hus receives an ironic rejoicing appeal and coming cup, drunkenness and nakedness. Sion’s iniquity is accomplished with no more carrying into captivity; Edom’s iniquity is visited and exposed. The following prayer heading remains editorial. Pits replacing sins, leprosy diagnosis, unwilling bread-givers, steaming refuse and a universal fixed limit for all punishment are not supplied.