10 Bible Verses about Bitter Water

Most Relevant Verses

Numbers 5:24

and he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings a curse, and the water that brings the curse will go into her and cause bitterness.

James 3:11

Does a spring send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water?

Exodus 15:23

Then they came to Marah, but they could not drink its waters because they were bitter; therefore it was named Marah (bitter).

Exodus 15:22-26

Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went into the Wilderness of Shur; they went [a distance of] three days (about thirty-three miles) in the wilderness and found no water. Then they came to Marah, but they could not drink its waters because they were bitter; therefore it was named Marah (bitter). The people [grew discontented and] grumbled at Moses, saying, “What are we going to drink?” read more.
Then he cried to the Lord [for help], and the Lord showed him a tree, [a branch of] which he threw into the waters, and the waters became sweet.

There the Lord made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them, saying, “If you will diligently listen and pay attention to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His sight, and listen to His commandments, and keep [foremost in your thoughts and actively obey] all His precepts and statutes, then I will not put on you any of the diseases which I have put on the Egyptians; for I am the Lord who heals you.”

Numbers 5:23

‘The priest shall then write these curses on a scroll and shall wash them off into the water of bitterness;

Numbers 5:19

Then the priest shall have her take an oath and say to the woman, “If no man has lain with you and if you have not gone astray into uncleanness [while married], then be immune to this water of bitterness that brings a curse;

Numbers 5:18-27

The priest shall then have the woman stand before the Lord, and let the hair of the woman’s head hang loose, and put the memorial grain offering in her hands, which is the jealousy offering, and in the hand of the priest is to be the water of bitterness that brings a curse. Then the priest shall have her take an oath and say to the woman, “If no man has lain with you and if you have not gone astray into uncleanness [while married], then be immune to this water of bitterness that brings a curse; but if you have gone astray [while married] and you have defiled yourself and a man other than your husband has been intimate with you” read more.
(then the priest shall have the woman swear the oath of the curse, and say to the woman), “The Lord make you a curse and an oath among your people when the Lord makes your thigh waste away and your abdomen swell; and this water that brings a curse shall go into your stomach, and make your abdomen swell and your thigh waste away.” And the woman shall say, “Amen. Amen (so let it be).” ‘The priest shall then write these curses on a scroll and shall wash them off into the water of bitterness; and he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings a curse, and the water that brings the curse will go into her and cause bitterness. Then the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy out of the woman’s hand, and he shall wave the grain offering before the Lord and offer it on the altar. Then the priest shall take a handful of the grain offering as the memorial portion of it and offer it up in smoke on the altar, and afterward he shall make the woman drink the water. When he has made her drink the water, then it shall come about, that if she has defiled herself and has been unfaithful to her husband, the curse water will go into her and cause bitterness and cause her abdomen to swell and her thigh to waste away, and the woman will become a curse among her people.

Revelation 8:11

The name of the star is Wormwood; and a third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the waters, because they had become bitter (toxic).

Numbers 5:18

The priest shall then have the woman stand before the Lord, and let the hair of the woman’s head hang loose, and put the memorial grain offering in her hands, which is the jealousy offering, and in the hand of the priest is to be the water of bitterness that brings a curse.

Numbers 5:27

When he has made her drink the water, then it shall come about, that if she has defiled herself and has been unfaithful to her husband, the curse water will go into her and cause bitterness and cause her abdomen to swell and her thigh to waste away, and the woman will become a curse among her people.

Bible Theasaurus

From Thematic Bible


Bitter water » Ceremonial water » Used » By priests

Numbers 5:18-27

And the priest shall set the woman before the Lord, and let the hair of the woman's head hang loose, and put the meal offering of remembrance in her hands, which is the jealousy and suspicion offering. And the priest shall have in his hand the water of bitterness that brings the curse. Then the priest shall make her take an oath, and say to the woman, If no man has lain with you and if you have not gone astray to uncleanness with another instead of your husband, then be free from any effect of this water of bitterness which brings the curse. But if you have gone astray and you are defiled, some man having lain with you beside your husband, read more.
Then the priest shall make the woman take the oath of the curse, and say to the woman, The Lord make you a curse and an oath among your people when the Lord makes your thigh fall away and your body swell. May this water that brings the curse go into your bowels and make your body swell and your thigh fall away. And the woman shall say, So let it be, so let it be. The priest shall then write these curses in a book and shall wash them off into the water of bitterness; And he shall cause the woman to drink the water of bitterness that brings the curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter into her [to try her] bitterly. Then the priest shall take the cereal offering of jealousy and suspicion out of the woman's hand and shall wave the offering before the Lord and offer it upon the altar. And the priest shall take a handful of the cereal offering as the memorial portion of it and burn it on the altar, and afterward shall cause the woman to drink the water. And when he has made her drink the water, then if she is defiled and has committed a trespass against her husband, the curse water which she drank shall be bitterness and cause her body to swell and her thigh to fall away, and the woman shall be a curse among her people.

Bitter water » At marah

Exodus 15:23

Then they came to Marah, but they could not drink its waters because they were bitter; therefore it was named Marah (bitter).

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