'Dust on Their Heads' in the Bible

Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord until evening, he and the elders of Israel; and [with great sorrow] they put dust on their heads.

On the twenty-fourth day of this month the Israelites assembled; they were fasting, wearing sackcloth, and had put dust on their heads.

and they lift up their eyes from afar and have not discerned him, and they lift up their voice and weep, and rend each his robe, and sprinkle dust on their heads -- heavenward.

The elders of the Daughter of ZionSit on the ground keeping silent;They have thrown dust on their heads,They have covered themselves with sackcloth.The virgins of JerusalemHave bowed their heads to the ground.

And they will make their voice heard [as they wail loudly] over youAnd they will cry bitterly.They will throw dust on their heads;They will wallow in ashes.

Unhappy are you, Chorazin! Unhappy are you, Beth-saida! For if the works of power which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have been turned from their sins in days gone by, clothing themselves in haircloth and putting dust on their heads.

And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.