'Chosen' in the Bible

For you will be ashamed [of the degradation] of the oaks in which you took [idolatrous] pleasure,And you will be ashamed of the gardens [of passion] which you have chosen [for pagan worship].

Now let me sing for my greatly Beloved [Lord]A song of my Beloved about His vineyard (His chosen people).My greatly Beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile slope (the promised land, Canaan).

“But you, Israel, My servant,Jacob whom I have chosen,The offspring of Abraham My friend,

You whom I [the Lord] have taken from the ends of the earth,And called from its remotest partsAnd said to you, ‘You are My servant,I have chosen you and have not rejected you [even though you are exiled].

“You are My witnesses,” declares the Lord,“And My servant whom I have chosen,That you may know and believe MeAnd understand that I am He.Before Me there was no God formed,And there will be none after Me.

“The beasts of the field will honor Me,Jackals and ostriches,Because I have given waters in the wildernessAnd rivers in the desert,To give drink to My people, My chosen.

“But now listen, O Jacob, My servant,And Israel, whom I have chosen:

This is what the Lord who made youAnd formed you from the womb, who will help you says,‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant;And Jeshurun (Israel, the upright one) whom I have chosen.

“For the sake of Jacob My servant,And of Israel My chosen,I have also called you by your name;I have given you an honorable nameThough you have not known Me.

“Indeed, I have refined you, but not as silver;I have tested and chosen you in the furnace of affliction.

“For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it [I refrain and do not completely destroy you];For how can My Name be defiled and profaned [as it would if My chosen people were completely destroyed]?And I will not give My glory to another [by permitting the worshipers of idols to triumph over you].

This is what the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, Israel’s Holy One says,To the thoroughly despised One,To the One hated by the nationTo the Servant of rulers,“Kings will see and arise,Princes shall also bow down,Because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You.”

“Is a fast such as this what I have chosen, a day for a man to humble himself [with sorrow in his soul]?Is it only to bow down his head like a reedAnd to make sackcloth and ashes as a bed [pretending to have a repentant heart]?Do you call this a fast and a day pleasing to the Lord?

“[Rather] is this not the fast which I choose,To undo the bonds of wickedness,To tear to pieces the ropes of the yoke,To let the oppressed go freeAnd break apart every [enslaving] yoke?

“I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,And an heir of My mountains from Judah;Even My chosen ones shall inherit it,And My servants will live there.

“And you will leave your name behind to My chosen ones [who will use it] as a curse,And the Lord God will put you to death,But He will call His servants by another name [a much greater name, just as the name Israel was greater than the name Jacob].

“They will not build and another occupy;They will not plant and another eat [the fruit].For as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people,And My chosen [people] will fully enjoy [and long make use of] the work of their hands.

“He who kills an ox [for pagan sacrifice] is [as guilty] as one who kills a man;He who sacrifices a lamb, as one who breaks a dog’s neck;He who offers a grain offering, as one who offers swine’s blood;He who offers incense, as one who blesses an idol.Such people have chosen their own ways,And their soul delights in their repulsive acts;