'Bitter' in the Bible
When Esau heard his father’s words, he cried out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me too, my father!”
and made their lives bitter with difficult labor in brick and mortar and in all kinds of fieldwork. They ruthlessly imposed all this work on them.
They are to eat the meat that night; they should eat it, roasted over the fire along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
They came to Marah, but they could not drink the water at Marah because it was bitter—that is why it was named Marah.
After the priest has the woman stand before the Lord, he is to let down her hair and place in her hands the grain offering for remembrance, which is the grain offering of jealousy. The priest is to hold the bitter water that brings a curse.
The priest will require the woman to take an oath and will say to her, ‘If no man has slept with you, if you have not gone astray and become defiled while under your husband’s authority, be unaffected by this bitter water that brings a curse.
“Then the priest is to write these curses on a scroll and wash them off into the bitter water.
He will require the woman to drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and it will enter her and cause bitter suffering.
“When he makes her drink the water, if she has defiled herself and been unfaithful to her husband, the water that brings a curse will enter her and cause bitter suffering; her belly will swell, and her thigh will shrivel. She will become a curse among her people.
Such people are to observe it in the second month, on the fourteenth day at twilight. They are to eat the animal with unleavened bread and bitter herbs;
Be sure there is no man, woman, clan, or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the Lord our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Be sure there is no root among you bearing poisonous and bitter fruit.
They will be weak from hunger,ravaged by pestilence and bitter plague;I will unleash on them wild beasts with fangs,as well as venomous snakes that slither in the dust.
For their vine is from the vine of Sodomand from the fields of Gomorrah.Their grapes are poisonous;their clusters are bitter.
would you be willing to wait for them to grow up? Would you restrain yourselves from remarrying? No, my daughters, my life is much too bitter for you to share, because the Lord’s hand has turned against me.”
“Don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara,” she answered, “for the Almighty has made me very bitter.
David was in a difficult position because the troops talked about stoning him, for they were all very bitter over the loss of their sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God.
For the Lord saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter. There was no one to help Israel, neither bond nor free.
Why is light given to one burdened with grief,and life to those whose existence is bitter,
He doesn’t let me catch my breathbut soaks me with bitter experiences.
For You record bitter accusations against meand make me inherit the iniquities of my youth.
Yet another person dies with a bitter soul,having never tasted prosperity.
Today also my complaint is bitter.His hand is heavy despite my groaning.
As God lives, who has deprived me of justice,and the Almighty who has made me bitter,
who sharpen their tongues like swordsand aim bitter words like arrows,
in the end she’s as bitter as wormwoodand as sharp as a double-edged sword.
A person who is full tramples on a honeycomb,but to a hungry person, any bitter thing is sweet.
Give beer to one who is dyingand wine to one whose life is bitter.
And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a trap, her heart a net, and her hands chains. The one who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner will be captured by her.
Woe to those who call evil goodand good evil,who substitute darkness for lightand light for darkness,who substitute bitter for sweetand sweet for bitter.
They no longer sing and drink wine;beer is bitter to those who drink it.
Your way of life and your actionshave brought this on you.This is your punishment. It is very bitter,because it has reached your heart!
My dear people, dress yourselves in sackclothand roll in the dust.Mourn as you would for an only son,a bitter lament,for suddenly the destroyer will come on us.
This is what the Lord says:A voice was heard in Ramah,a lament with bitter weeping—Rachel weeping for her children,refusing to be comforted for her childrenbecause they are no more.
ד DaletThe roads to Zion mourn,for no one comes to the appointed festivals.All her gates are deserted;her priests groan,her young women grieve,and she herself is bitter.
They shave their heads because of youand wrap themselves in sackcloth.They weep over youwith deep anguish and bitter mourning.
Ephraim has provoked bitter anger,so his Lord will leave his bloodguilt on himand repay him for his contempt. >
I will turn your feasts into mourningand all your songs into lamentation;I will cause everyone to wear sackclothand every head to be shaved.I will make that grieflike mourning for an only sonand its outcome like a bitter day.
Look! I am raising up the Chaldeans,that bitter, impetuous nationthat marches across the earth’s open spacesto seize territories not its own.
The great Day of the Lord is near,near and rapidly approaching.Listen, the Day of the Lord—then the warrior’s cry is bitter.