'Bitterness' in the Bible

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

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;

‘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.

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.

Then Samuel said, “Bring me Agag, the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him cheerfully. And Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death has come to an end.”

Then Abner called to Joab, “Must the sword devour forever? Do you not know that it will be bitter in the end? How long [will it be] before you tell the people to stop pursuing their brothers?”

Then the king of Moab took his eldest son, who was to reign in his place, and offered him [publicly] as a burnt offering [to Chemosh] on the [city] wall [horrifying everyone]. And there was great wrath against Israel, and Israel’s allies [Judah and Edom] withdrew from King Jehoram and returned to their own land.

“Therefore I will not restrain my mouth;I will speak in the anguish of my spirit,I will complain in the bitterness of my soul [O Lord].

“He will not allow me to catch my breath,But fills and saturates me with bitterness.

“I am disgusted with my life and loathe it!I will give free expression to my complaint;I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

Whereas another dies with a bitter soul,Never even tasting pleasure or good fortune.

The heart knows its own bitterness,And no stranger shares its joy.

A foolish son is a grief and anguish to his fatherAnd bitterness to her who gave birth to him.

“What shall I say?For He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done it;I will wander aimlessly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul.

“Indeed, it was for my own well-being that I had such bitterness;But You have loved back my life from the pit of nothingness (destruction),For You have cast all my sins behind Your back.

Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts in regard to the prophets,‘Behold, I am going to feed them [the bitterness of] wormwoodAnd make them drink the poisonous water [of gall],For from the [counterfeit] prophets of JerusalemProfaneness and ungodliness have spread into all the land.’”

The roads to Zion are in mourningBecause no one comes to the appointed feasts.All her gates are desolate;Her priests are groaning,Her virgins are grieved and suffering,And she suffers bitterly.

In the days of her affliction and homelessnessJerusalem remembers all her precious thingsThat she had from the days of old,When her people fell into the hand of the adversary,And no one helped her,The enemy saw her,They mocked at her downfall.

He has besieged and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.

He has filled me with bitterness;He has made me drunk with wormwood (bitterness).

So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went embittered [by the sins of Israel] in the rage of my spirit; and the hand of the Lord was strong on me.

As for you, son of man, groan with breaking heart and bitter grief, groan in their sight.

“And they will make themselves [completely] bald for youAnd wrap themselves in sackcloth;And in bitterness of soul they will weep for youWith bitter mourning and wailing.

“For those [shall be consumed] who turn justice into wormwood (bitterness)And cast righteousness down to the earth.”

Do horses run on rocks?Do men plow rocks with oxen? [Of course not!]Yet you have turned justice into poisonAnd the fruit of righteousness into wormwood (bitterness),

For the inhabitant of Maroth (Bitterness)Writhes in pain [at its losses] and waits anxiously for good,Because a catastrophe has come down from the LordTo the gate of Jerusalem.

“I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace (unmerited favor) and supplication. And they will look at Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him as one who weeps bitterly over a firstborn.