Jeremiah 9:15
13 The Lord answered, “This has happened because these people have rejected my laws that I gave them. They have not obeyed me or followed those laws. 14 Instead they have followed the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts. They have paid allegiance to the gods called Baal, as their fathers taught them to do. 15 So then, listen to what I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, say, ‘I will make these people eat the bitter food of suffering and drink the poison water of judgment. 16 I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors have known anything about. I will send people chasing after them with swords until I have destroyed them.’” 17 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies told me to say to this people: “Take note of what I say. Call for the women who mourn for the dead! Summon those who are the most skilled at it!”
Lamentations 3:15
13 ה (He) He shot his arrows into my heart. 14 I have become the laughingstock of all people, their mocking song all day long. 15 He has given me my fill of bitter herbs and made me drunk with bitterness. 16 ו (Vav) He ground my teeth in gravel; he trampled me in the dust. 17 I am deprived of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is.
Notes and References
"... The desert yields many prickly plants, as well as wormwood (which represents bitterness of soul or corruption) and gall (a poisonous drink; Deuteronomy 29:18; Amos 5:7; Jeremiah 9:15; 23:15; Lamentations 3:15, 19). But the prophet Isaiah promises that “the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus [‘rose’] ... with joy and singing” (Isaiah 35:1–2). It is also in the wilderness that God provides manna for the starving Israelites ..."
Ryken, Leland Dictionary of Biblical Imagery (pp. 2189-2190) InterVarsity Press, 1998