The word ????, 'gall,' occurs in Mt 27:34. and the word for ' bitterness,' ??????, in Ro 3:14; Eph 4:31; Heb 12:15. The translation in Ac 8:23 is literal, except that it should be 'a gall of bitterness.' Peter saw that Simon was still in the state of nature which is only bitterness.
They gave him wine mixed with bitter drink: and after tasting it, he took no more.
For I see that you are prisoned in bitter envy and the chains of sin.
Let all bitter, sharp and angry feeling, and noise, and evil words, be put away from you, with all unkind acts;
Looking with care to see that no man among you in his behaviour comes short of the grace of God; for fear that some bitter root may come up to be a trouble to you, and that some of you may be made unclean by it;
Basic English, produced by Mr C. K. Ogden of the Orthological Institute - public domain