the ostrich, night hawk, seagull, any kind of falcon,

Because of your rage against me, your complacency has reached my ears. I'll put my hook into your nostrils and my bit into your mouth. Then I'll turn you back on the road by which you came.'

At that time, the prophets Haggai and Iddo's son Zechariah prophesied specifically to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel.

And so the Jewish leaders continued their building, and prospered because of the prophecies of Haggai the prophet and Iddo's son Zechariah. They completed the rebuilding in accordance with the commandment from the God of Israel and the edicts of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, king of Persia.

Let the king appoint officials in all the provinces of his kingdom to bring all the beautiful young virgins into the harem in Susa the capital. Let them be placed under the care of Hegai, the king's eunuch, who is in charge of the women to give them their beauty treatments.

The king's order and edict was proclaimed, and many young women were brought to Susa the capital under the care of Hegai. Esther was taken to the palace into the care of Hegai, who was in charge of the women.

Now Esther was the daughter of Abihail, who had been Mordecai's uncle. Mordecai had taken Esther in as his own daughter. When her turn came to go in to the king, she did not want anything except what Hegai, the king's eunuch in charge of the harem, advised. Esther found favor with everyone who saw her.

"Is it by your understanding that the hawk flies, spreading its wings toward the south?

"Can you draw Leviathan out of the water with a hook, or tie down his tongue with a rope?

Can you attach a bridle to his snout, or pierce his jaw with a hook?

Your insolence has reached my ears, so I'll put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I'll make you turn back on the road by which you came.

"So I'm going to plant a hook in your jaw and make the fish in your waterways grab hold of your scales. I'll bring you up out of the middle of your waterways, along with all of the fish from your waterways that cling to your scales,

The adversary captures them with a hook, gathering them up in a fishing net. He collects them with a dragnet, rejoicing and gloating over his catch.

On the first day of the sixth month of the second year of the reign of King Darius, this message from the LORD came by Haggai the prophet to Shealtiel's son Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, and to Jehozadak's son Joshua, the high priest:

Then this message from the LORD came by Haggai the prophet:

Then Shealtiel's son Zerubbabel, Jehozadak's son Joshua the high priest, and all the rest of the people obeyed the LORD their God and the words of Haggai the prophet, because the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared the LORD.

Haggai, the messenger of the LORD, spoke to the people with a special commission from the LORD: ""I am with you,' declares the LORD."

On the twenty-first day of the seventh month, this message from the LORD came by Haggai the prophet:

On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month of the second year of the reign of King Darius, this message from the LORD came to Haggai the prophet:

So Haggai responded, "If someone who is unclean because of contact with a dead body were to touch any of these things, would they become unclean?" The priests responded, "They would be unclean."

Then Haggai answered, ""That's how I look at this people and this nation,' declares the LORD. "And that's how it is with everything they undertake and with what they offer there it is unclean.

This message from the LORD came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month:

So Jesus told him, "In that case, the subjects are exempt. However, so that we don't offend them, go to the sea and throw in a hook. Take the first fish that comes up, open its mouth, and you will find a coin. Take it and give it to them for me and you."