Lamentations 1:4 (KJV)

Passage

The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts: all her gates are desolate: her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness.

Nearby Context

Lamentations 1:2 She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies.

Lamentations 1:3 Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude: she dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest: all her persecutors overtook her between the straits.

Lamentations 1:4 The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts: all her gates are desolate: her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness.

Lamentations 1:5 Her adversaries are the chief, her enemies prosper; for the LORD hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions: her children are gone into captivity before the enemy.

Lamentations 1:6 And from the daughter of Zion all her beauty is departed: her princes are become like harts that find no pasture, and they are gone without strength before the pursuer.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "ways", "zion", "mourn", "none", "come", "solemn", "feasts", and "gates". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "ways" and "zion", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "Judah is gone into captivity because of..." into verse 5's "Her adversaries are the chief her enemies...", so "ways" and "zion" belong inside that flow. In Lamentations context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "ways" and "zion" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.