11 Bible Verses about Dust, Figurative Use

“By the sweat of your face
You will eat bread
Until you return to the ground,
For from it you were taken;
For you are dust,
And to dust you shall return.”

I will make your descendants [as numerous] as the dust of the earth, so that if a man could count the [grains of] dust of the earth, then your descendants could also be counted.

The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven it will come down on you until you are destroyed.

So David and his men went on the road; and Shimei went along on the hillside close beside David and cursed as he went and threw stones and dust at him.

When they looked from a distance and did not recognize him [because of his disfigurement], they raised their voices and wept; and each one tore his robe [in grief] and they threw dust over their heads toward the sky [in sorrow].

“Kings will be your attendants,
And their princesses your nurses.
They will bow down to you with their faces to the earth
And lick the dust of your feet;
And you shall know [with an understanding based on personal experience] that I am the Lord;
For they shall not be put to shame who wait and hope expectantly for Me.

Your dead will live;
Their dead bodies will rise.
You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy!
For your dew is a dew of [celestial] light [heavenly, supernatural],
And the earth will give birth to the spirits of the dead.

Whoever does not welcome you, nor listen to your message, as you leave that house or city, shake the dust [of it] off your feet [in contempt, breaking all ties].

“He raises up the poor from the dust,
He lifts up the needy from the ash heap
To make them sit with nobles,
And inherit a seat of honor and glory;
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,
And He set the land on them.

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

And they threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying, ‘Woe, woe, for the great city, where all who had ships at sea grew rich from her great wealth, because in one hour she has been laid waste!’