Lexicon :: Strong's H977 - bāḥar

Then Amaziah gathered Judah and assembled them according to ancestral families,[fn] according to commanders of thousands, and according to commanders of hundreds. He numbered those twenty years old or more for all Judah and Benjamin. He found there to be three hundred thousand fit young men who could serve in the army, bearing spear and shield.

“My sons, don’t be negligent now, for the LORD has chosen you to stand in his presence, to serve him, and to be his ministers and burners of incense.”

Manasseh set up a carved image of the idol, which he had made, in God’s temple that God had spoken about to David and his son Solomon: “I will establish my name forever[fn] in this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel.

“But if you return to me and carefully observe my commands, even though your exiles were banished to the farthest horizon,[fn] I will gather them from there and bring them to the place where I chose to have my name dwell.”

You, the LORD,

are the God who chose Abram

and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans,

and changed his name to Abraham.

so that I prefer strangling[fn] —

death rather than life in this body.[fn]

How then can I answer him

or choose my arguments against him?

Your iniquity teaches you what to say,

and you choose the language of the crafty.

I directed their course and presided as chief.

I lived as a king among his troops,

like one who comforts those who mourn.

Let us judge for ourselves what is right;

let us decide together what is good.

Be careful that you do not turn to iniquity,

for that is why you have been tested by[fn] affliction.

Who is this person who fears the LORD?

He will show him the way he should choose.

Happy is the nation whose God is the LORD —

the people he has chosen to be his own possession!

He chooses for us our inheritance —

the pride of Jacob, whom he loves.Selah

How happy is the one you choose

and bring near to live in your courts!

We will be satisfied with the goodness of your house,

the holiness of your temple.[fn]

He rejected the tent of Joseph

and did not choose the tribe of Ephraim.

Better a day in your courts

than a thousand anywhere else.

I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God

than live in the tents of wicked people.

He sent Moses his servant,

and Aaron, whom he had chosen.

I have chosen the way of truth;

I have set your ordinances before me.

For the LORD has chosen Zion;

he has desired it for his home:

For the LORD has chosen Jacob for himself,

Israel as his treasured possession.

“Because they hated knowledge,

didn’t choose to fear the LORD,

Don’t envy a violent man

or choose any of his ways;

“Accept my instruction instead of silver,

and knowledge rather than pure gold.

The tongue of the righteous is pure silver;

the heart of the wicked is of little value.

Get wisdom —

how much better it is than gold!

And get understanding —

it is preferable to silver.

Doing what is righteous and just

is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.

A good name is to be chosen over great wealth;

favor is better than silver and gold.

But there is hope for whoever is joined[fn] with all the living, since a live dog is better than a dead lion.

His legs are alabaster pillars

set on pedestals of pure gold.

His presence is like Lebanon,

as majestic as the cedars.

Indeed, they[fn] will be ashamed of the sacred trees

you desired,

and you will be embarrassed because of the garden shrines

you have chosen.

“By the time he learns to reject what is bad and choose what is good, he will be eating curds[fn] and honey.

For the LORD will have compassion on Jacob and will choose Israel again. He will settle them on their own land. The resident alien will join them and be united with the house of Jacob.

A poor person contributes wood for a pedestal

that will not rot.[fn]

He looks for a skilled craftsman

to set up an idol that will not fall over.

But you, Israel, my servant,

Jacob, whom I have chosen,

descendant of Abraham, my friend —

“You are my witnesses” —

this is the LORD’s declaration —

“and my servant whom I have chosen,

so that you may know and believe me

and understand that I am he.

No god was formed before me,

and there will be none after me.

“And now listen, Jacob my servant,

Israel whom I have chosen.

“Look, I have refined you, but not as silver;

I have tested[fn] you in the furnace of affliction.

This is what the LORD,

the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, says

to one who is despised,

to one abhorred by people,[fn]

to a servant of rulers:

“Kings will see, princes will stand up,

and they[fn] will all bow down

because of the LORD, who is faithful,

the Holy One of Israel ​— ​and he has chosen you.”

For the LORD says this:

“For the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,

and choose what pleases me,

and hold firmly to my covenant,

“Will the fast I choose be like this:

A day for a person to deny himself,

to bow his head like a reed,

and to spread out sackcloth and ashes?

Will you call this a fast

and a day acceptable to the LORD?