I have sewed sackcloth on my skin, ¹  and buried ²  my horn ³  in the dust;

I wear sackcloth and they ridicule me. ¹ 

Wail ¹  like a young virgin ²  clothed in sackcloth, lamenting the death of ³  her husband-to-be. ⁴ 

Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, ¹  and mourned for his son many days.

When they were sick, I wore sackcloth, ¹  and refrained from eating food. ²  (If I am lying, may my prayers go unanswered!) ³ 

In their streets they wear sackcloth; on their roofs and in their town squares all of them wail, they fall down weeping.

At that time the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, called for weeping and mourning, for shaved heads and sackcloth. ¹ 

When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and fasted. He slept in sackcloth and walked around dejected.

But he went no further than the king’s gate, for no one was permitted to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth.

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.”

For all of them will shave their heads in mourning. They will all cut off their beards to show their sorrow. They will all make gashes in their hands. They will all put on sackcloth. ¹ 

When the news ¹  reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, put on sackcloth, and sat on ashes.

Also, anything they fall on ¹  when they die will become unclean – any wood vessel or garment or article of leather or sackcloth. Any such vessel with which work is done must be immersed in water ²  and will be unclean until the evening. Then it will become clean.

Now when Mordecai became aware of all that had been done, he ¹  tore his garments and put on sackcloth and ashes. He went out into the city, crying out in a loud ²  and bitter voice.

Throughout each and every province where the king’s edict and law were announced ¹  there was considerable ²  mourning among the Jews, along with fasting, weeping, and sorrow. ³  Sackcloth and ashes were characteristic ⁴  of many.

A putrid stench will replace the smell of spices, ¹  a rope will replace a belt, baldness will replace braided locks of hair, a sackcloth garment will replace a fine robe, and a prisoner’s brand will replace beauty.

I will turn your festivals into funerals, ¹  and all your songs into funeral dirges. I will make everyone wear funeral clothes ²  and cause every head to be shaved bald. ³  I will make you mourn as if you had lost your only son; ⁴  when it ends it will indeed have been a bitter day. ⁵