The Lord saw Israel’s intense suffering; ¹  everyone was weak and incapacitated and Israel had no deliverer. ² 

So I say: “Don’t look at me! ¹  I am weeping bitterly. Don’t try ²  to console me concerning the destruction of my defenseless people.” ³ 

“The way you have lived and the things you have done ¹  will bring this on you. This is the punishment you deserve, and it will be painful indeed. ²  The pain will be so bad it will pierce your heart.” ³ 

Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly. ¹ 

You must put away every kind of bitterness, anger, wrath, quarreling, and evil, slanderous talk.

But if you have bitter jealousy and selfishness in your hearts, do not boast and tell lies against the truth.

See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God, that no one be like a bitter root springing up ¹  and causing trouble, and through him many become defiled.

They made their lives bitter ¹  by ²  hard service with mortar and bricks and by all kinds of service ³  in the fields. Every kind of service the Israelites were required to give was rigorous. ⁴ 

Yes, ¹  my spirit was bitter, ²  and my insides felt sharp pain. ³ 

Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them.

When Esau heard ¹  his father’s words, he wailed loudly and bitterly. ²  He said to his father, “Bless me too, my father!”

Then Abner called out to Joab, “Must the sword devour forever? Don’t you realize that this will turn bitter in the end? When will you tell the people to turn aside from pursuing their brothers?”

I discovered this: ¹  More bitter than death is the kind of ²  woman ³  who is like a hunter’s snare; ⁴  her heart is like a hunter’s net and her hands are like prison chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is captured by her.

ד (Dalet) The roads to Zion ¹  mourn ²  because no one ³  travels to the festivals. ⁴  All her city gates ⁵  are deserted; ⁶  her priests groan. ⁷  Her virgins grieve; ⁸  she is in bitter anguish! ⁹ 

So the people came to Bethel ¹  and sat there before God until evening, weeping loudly and uncontrollably. ² 

Then Samuel said, “Bring me King Agag of the Amalekites.” So Agag came to him trembling, ¹  thinking to himself, ²  “Surely death is bitter!” ³ 

Just as he finished speaking, the king’s sons arrived, wailing and weeping. ¹  The king and all his servants wept loudly ²  as well.

The archers will attack him, ¹  they will shoot at him and oppose him.

The Israelites ¹  turn justice into bitterness; ²  they throw what is fair and right ³  to the ground. ⁴ 

So I said, ¹  “Oh, my dear people, ²  put on sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn with painful sobs as though you had lost your only child. For any moment now ³  that destructive army ⁴  will come against us.”