Then Abraham spoke again. “Since I have begun, let me speak further to my Lord, even though I am but dust and ashes.

The ashes will spread like fine dust over the whole land of Egypt, causing festering boils to break out on people and animals throughout the land.”

The priest must also remove the crop and the feathers and throw them in the ashes on the east side of the altar.

and carry it away to a place outside the camp that is ceremonially clean, the place where the ashes are dumped. There, on the ash heap, he will burn it on a wood fire.

In the morning, after the priest on duty has put on his official linen clothing and linen undergarments, he must clean out the ashes of the burnt offering and put them beside the altar.

Then he must take off these garments, change back into his regular clothes, and carry the ashes outside the camp to a place that is ceremonially clean.

“They must remove the ashes from the altar for sacrifices and cover the altar with a purple cloth.

Then someone who is ceremonially clean will gather up the ashes of the heifer and deposit them in a purified place outside the camp. They will be kept there for the community of Israel to use in the water for the purification ceremony. This ceremony is performed for the removal of sin.

The man who gathers up the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he will remain ceremonially unclean until evening. This is a permanent law for the people of Israel and any foreigners who live among them.

“To remove the defilement, put some of the ashes from the burnt purification offering in a jar, and pour fresh water over them.

But now Tamar tore her robe and put ashes on her head. And then, with her face in her hands, she went away crying.

That same day the man of God gave a sign to prove his message. He said, “The Lord has promised to give this sign: This altar will split apart, and its ashes will be poured out on the ground.”

At the same time a wide crack appeared in the altar, and the ashes poured out, just as the man of God had predicted in his message from the Lord.

Then the king instructed Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second rank and the Temple gatekeepers to remove from the Lord’s Temple all the articles that were used to worship Baal, Asherah, and all the powers of the heavens. The king had all these things burned outside Jerusalem on the terraces of the Kidron Valley, and he carried the ashes away to Bethel.

The king removed the Asherah pole from the Lord’s Temple and took it outside Jerusalem to the Kidron Valley, where he burned it. Then he ground the ashes of the pole to dust and threw the dust over the graves of the people.

Mordecai Requests Esther’s Help

When Mordecai learned about all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on burlap and ashes, and went out into the city, crying with a loud and bitter wail.

And as news of the king’s decree reached all the provinces, there was great mourning among the Jews. They fasted, wept, and wailed, and many people lay in burlap and ashes.

Job scraped his skin with a piece of broken pottery as he sat among the ashes.

Your platitudes are as valuable as ashes. Your defense is as fragile as a clay pot.

He has thrown me into the mud. I’m nothing more than dust and ashes.

I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.”

I eat ashes for food. My tears run down into my drink

He sends the snow like white wool; he scatters frost upon the ground like ashes.

The poor, deluded fool feeds on ashes. He trusts something that can’t help him at all. Yet he cannot bring himself to ask, “Is this idol that I’m holding in my hand a lie?”

You humble yourselves by going through the motions of penance, bowing your heads like reeds bending in the wind. You dress in burlap and cover yourselves with ashes. Is this what you call fasting? Do you really think this will please the Lord?