'Sackcloth' in the Bible
Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourned for his son many days.
Also, anything they fall on 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 and will be unclean until the evening. Then it will become clean.
David instructed Joab and all the people who were with him, "Tear your clothes! Put on sackcloth! Lament before Abner!" Now King David followed behind the funeral bier.
Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on a rock. From the beginning of the harvest until the rain fell on them, she did not allow the birds of the air to feed on them by day, nor the wild animals by night.
His advisers said to him, "Look, we have heard that the kings of the Israelite dynasty are kind. Allow us to put sackcloth around our waists and ropes on our heads and surrender to the king of Israel. Maybe he will spare our lives."
So they put sackcloth around their waists and ropes on their heads and went to the king of Israel. They said, "Your servant Ben Hadad says, 'Please let me live!'" Ahab replied, "Is he still alive? He is my brother."
When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and fasted. He slept in sackcloth and walked around dejected.
When the king heard what the woman said, he tore his clothes. As he was passing by on the wall, the people could see he was wearing sackcloth under his clothes.
When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and went to the Lord's temple.
He sent Eliakim the palace supervisor, Shebna the scribe, and the leading priests, clothed in sackcloth, with this message to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz:
David looked up and saw the Lord's messenger standing between the earth and sky with his sword drawn and in his hand, stretched out over Jerusalem. David and the leaders, covered with sackcloth, threw themselves down with their faces to the ground.
On the twenty-fourth day of this same month the Israelites assembled; they were fasting and wearing sackcloth, their heads covered with dust.
Now when Mordecai became aware of all that had been done, he tore his garments and put on sackcloth and ashes. He went out into the city, crying out in a loud and bitter voice.
But he went no further than the king's gate, for no one was permitted to enter the king's gate clothed in sackcloth.
Throughout each and every province where the king's edict and law were announced there was considerable mourning among the Jews, along with fasting, weeping, and sorrow. Sackcloth and ashes were characteristic of many.
When Esther's female attendants and her eunuchs came and informed her about Mordecai's behavior, the queen was overcome with anguish. Although she sent garments for Mordecai to put on so that he could remove his sackcloth, he would not accept them.
I have sewed sackcloth on my skin, and buried my horn in the dust;
Then you turned my lament into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and covered me with joy.
When they were sick, I wore sackcloth, and refrained from eating food. (If I am lying, may my prayers go unanswered!)
A putrid stench will replace the smell of spices, 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.
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 Lord announced through Isaiah son of Amoz: "Go, remove the sackcloth from your waist and take your sandals off your feet." He did as instructed and walked around in undergarments and barefoot.
At that time the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, called for weeping and mourning, for shaved heads and sackcloth.
Tremble, you complacent ones! Shake with fear, you carefree ones! Strip off your clothes and expose yourselves -- put sackcloth on your waist!
When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and went to the Lord's temple.
Eliakim the palace supervisor, Shebna the scribe, and the leading priests, clothed in sackcloth, sent this message to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz:
I can clothe the sky in darkness; I can cover it with sackcloth."
Is this really the kind of fasting I want? Do I want a day when people merely humble themselves, bowing their heads like a reed and stretching out on sackcloth and ashes? Is this really what you call a fast, a day that is pleasing to the Lord?
So put on sackcloth! Mourn and wail, saying, 'The fierce anger of the Lord has not turned away from us!'"
So I said, "Oh, my dear people, put on sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn with painful sobs as though you had lost your only child. For any moment now that destructive army 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.
Wail, you people in Heshbon, because Ai in Ammon is destroyed. Cry out in anguish, you people in the villages surrounding Rabbah. Put on sackcloth and cry out in mourning. Run about covered with gashes. For your god Milcom will go into exile along with his priests and officials.
(Yod) The elders of Daughter Zion sit on the ground in silence. They have thrown dirt on their heads; They have dressed in sackcloth. Jerusalem's young women stare down at the ground.
They will wear sackcloth, terror will cover them; shame will be on all their faces, and all of their heads will be shaved bald.
they will tear out their hair because of you and put on sackcloth, and they will weep bitterly over you with intense mourning.
So I turned my attention to the Lord God to implore him by prayer and requests, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
Wail like a young virgin clothed in sackcloth, lamenting the death of her husband-to-be.
Get dressed and lament, you priests! Wail, you who minister at the altar! Come, spend the night in sackcloth, you servants of my God, because no one brings grain offerings or drink offerings to the temple of your God anymore.
The people of Nineveh believed in God, and they declared a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them.
When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, put on sackcloth, and sat on ashes.
Every person and animal must put on sackcloth and must cry earnestly to God, and everyone must turn from their evil way of living and from the violence that they do.