Eli Tsiyon

Eli Tsiyon v'aréha, k'mo isha b'tziréha,
v'chivtulah chagurat sak, al ba'al n'uréha.

Alei armon asher nutash, b'ashmat tson adaréha,
v'al biat m'charfei El, b'toch mikdash khadaréha.
Alei galut m'shár'tei El, ni'imei shir z'maréha,
v'al damam asher shupach, k'mo meimi y'oréha.

Alei hegyon m'choléha, asher damam b'aréha,
v'al va'ad asher shamam, uvitul sanhedréha.
Alei zivchei t'midéha, ufidyonei b'choréha,
v'al chilul k'li heichal, umizbe'ach k'toréha.

Alei tapei m'lachéha, b'nei david g'vireha,
v'al yofyam asher khashach, b'et saru k'taréha.
Alei chavod asher galah, b'et chorban d'viréha
v'al lochatz asher lachatz v'sam sakim khagoréha.

Alei máchatz v'rov makot asher huku n'ziréha,
v'al niputz eilei séla, avileha n'aréha.
Alei Simchat m'san'éha, b'sochkam al sh'varéha,
v'al inui b'nei chorin n'divéha t'horéha.

Alei pésha asher a'vta, s'lol derech ashuréha,
v'al tsiv'ot k'haléha, sh'zufeha sh'choréha.
Alei kolot m'charféha b'et rabu f'garéha,
v'al rigshat m'gadféha b'toch mishkan chatzaréha.

Alei shimcha asher chulal, b'fi kamai m'tzaréha,
v'al táchan y'tzav'chu lach, k'shov ushma amaréha.

Mourn, O Zion and her cities, like a woman in her birth pains,
And like a maiden wrapped in sack-cloth for the husband of her youth
[א] [Mourn] for the palace [i.e. Temple] that was abandoned due to the guilt of the sheep of her flock [i.e. Israel],
[ב] and for the coming of the revilers of God, within the Temple’s rooms.
[ג] For the exile of the servants of God, the pleasant singers of her songs,
[ד] and for their blood that was spilled like the waters of her rivers.
[ה] For the words of those who sat in a semi-circle [i.e. the justices of the Sanhedrin] which was silenced in her cities,
[ו] and for the gathering that was destroyed, and the nullification of her Sanhedrin-courts.
[ז] For the daily sacrifices and the redemption of her firstborns,
[ח] and for the desecration of the Temple vessels and the altar of her incense.
[ט] For the children of her kings, the sons of David her important ones,
[י] and for their beauty that was darkened at the time of the removal of her crowns.
[כ] For the glory that was exiled at the destruction of her holiest places,
[ל] and for the oppression that was oppressed and which made sackcloth her girding.
[מ] For the striking and many blows by which her ascetics were struck,
[נ] and for the smashing onto rocks of her babies, her children.
[{ש{ס] For the joy of her haters in their laughter over her breaking,
[ע] And for the affliction of her freemen and her pure princes.
[פ] For the sins that she committed, setting stumbling-stones upon her ways,
[צ] And for the hosts of her congregations, her singed and blackened ones.
[ק] For the voices of her scorners at the time her dead bodies grew many,
[ר] And for the shouting of those that cursed her within the sanctuary of her courtyards.
[ש] For Your name which was desecrated in the mouths of those who arose against her in her straits,
[ת] and for the supplication which they cry out to You, harken and hear her speech.


Translation by Joel Goldstein.
Edits by R. A. Alpert as per Rodelheim Kinot translation (German).

Unknown author. One of the most well-known of the kinot (liturgical poems for Tisha b'av), Eli Tsiyon is an alphabetical acrostic describing the destruction of Jerusalem. It is recited towards the conclusion of kinot, due to the hopeful note in the comparison of Zion to a woman about to give birth, thought by many to be a messianic reference.