Were the children of Jerusalem innocent of their father’s sins?

No, they were not the innocent victims of the sins of the fathers. The children later confess: The crown has fallen from our head; woe to us, for we have sinned (Lamentations 5:16). The meaning here is to portray Jerusalem's downfall because of the sins not only of the current generation, but also of the previous generation (see also Jeremiah 16:10–13). The current generation that grew up in the land after the catastrophe want to state their case that the consequences of the just divine judgment of their fathers which are no longer here are still haunting them.¹ Here it is not about bearing innocently their forefathers’ guilt. It is about the continuing suffering because of their predecessors’ sin. This same idea is found in Isaiah 53:1; Jeremiah 31:29 and Ezekiel 18:2.² With the acknowledgment of their own guilt, the current generation is pleading for deliverance from God because the guilt of their fathers is now resulting in such heavy punishment and suffering.³