rsv Isaiah:40-43 SEEK
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Comfort ,
comfort my people ,
says your God .
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Speak tenderly to Jerusalem ,
and cry to her that her warfare is ended ,
that her iniquity is pardoned ,
that she has received from the LORD '
s hand double for all her sins .
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A voice cries : "
In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD ,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God .
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Every valley shall be lifted up ,
and every mountain and hill be made low ;
the uneven ground shall become level ,
and the rough places a plain .
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And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed ,
and all flesh shall see it together ,
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken ."
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A voice says , "
Cry !"
And I said , "
What shall I cry ?"
All flesh is grass ,
and all its beauty is like the flower of the field .
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The grass withers ,
the flower fades ,
when the breath of the LORD blows upon it ;
surely the people is grass .
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The grass withers ,
the flower fades ;
but the word of our God will stand for ever .
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Get you up to a high mountain ,
O Zion ,
herald of good tidings ;
lift up your voice with strength ,
O Jerusalem ,
herald of good tidings ,
lift it up ,
fear not ;
say to the cities of Judah , "
Behold your God !"
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Behold ,
the Lord GOD comes with might ,
and his arm rules for him ;
behold ,
his reward is with him ,
and his recompense before him .
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He will feed his flock like a shepherd ,
he will gather the lambs in his arms ,
he will carry them in his bosom ,
and gently lead those that are with young .
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Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span ,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance ?
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Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD ,
or as his counselor has instructed him ?
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Whom did he consult for his enlightenment ,
and who taught him the path of justice ,
and taught him knowledge ,
and showed him the way of understanding ?
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Behold ,
the nations are like a drop from a bucket ,
and are accounted as the dust on the scales ;
behold ,
he takes up the isles like fine dust .
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Lebanon would not suffice for fuel ,
nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering .
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All the nations are as nothing before him ,
they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness .
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To whom then will you liken God ,
or what likeness compare with him ?
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The idol !
a workman casts it ,
and a goldsmith overlays it with gold ,
and casts for it silver chains .
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He who is impoverished chooses for an offering wood that will not rot ;
he seeks out a skilful craftsman to set up an image that will not move .
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Have you not known ?
Have you not heard ?
Has it not been told you from the beginning ?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth ?
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It is he who sits above the circle of the earth ,
and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers ;
who stretches out the heavens like a curtain ,
and spreads them like a tent to dwell in ;
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who brings princes to nought ,
and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing .
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Scarcely are they planted ,
scarcely sown ,
scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth ,
when he blows upon them ,
and they wither ,
and the tempest carries them off like stubble .
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To whom then will you compare me ,
that I should be like him ?
says the Holy One .
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Lift up your eyes on high and see :
who created these ?
He who brings out their host by number ,
calling them all by name ;
by the greatness of his might ,
and because he is strong in power not one is missing .
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Why do you say ,
O Jacob ,
and speak ,
O Israel , "
My way is hid from the LORD ,
and my right is disregarded by my God "?
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Have you not known ?
Have you not heard ?
The LORD is the everlasting God ,
the Creator of the ends of the earth .
He does not faint or grow weary ,
his understanding is unsearchable .
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He gives power to the faint ,
and to him who has no might he increases strength .
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Even youths shall faint and be weary ,
and young men shall fall exhausted ;
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but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength ,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles ,
they shall run and not be weary ,
they shall walk and not faint .
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Listen to me in silence ,
O coastlands ;
let the peoples renew their strength ;
let them approach ,
then let them speak ;
let us together draw near for judgment .
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Who stirred up one from the east whom victory meets at every step ?
He gives up nations before him ,
so that he tramples kings under foot ;
he makes them like dust with his sword ,
like driven stubble with his bow .
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He pursues them and passes on safely ,
by paths his feet have not trod .
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Who has performed and done this ,
calling the generations from the beginning ?
I ,
the LORD ,
the first ,
and with the last ;
I am He .
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The coastlands have seen and are afraid ,
the ends of the earth tremble ;
they have drawn near and come .
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Every one helps his neighbor ,
and says to his brother , "
Take courage !"
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The craftsman encourages the goldsmith ,
and he who smooths with the hammer him who strikes the anvil ,
saying of the soldering , "
It is good ";
and they fasten it with nails so that it cannot be moved .
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But you ,
Israel ,
my servant ,
Jacob ,
whom I have chosen ,
the offspring of Abraham ,
my friend ;
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you whom I took from the ends of the earth ,
and called from its farthest corners ,
saying to you , "
You are my servant ,
I have chosen you and not cast you off ";
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fear not ,
for I am with you ,
be not dismayed ,
for I am your God ;
I will strengthen you ,
I will help you ,
I will uphold you with my victorious right hand .
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Behold ,
all who are incensed against you shall be put to shame and confounded ;
those who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish .
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You shall seek those who contend with you ,
but you shall not find them ;
those who war against you shall be as nothing at all .
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For I ,
the LORD your God ,
hold your right hand ;
it is I who say to you , "
Fear not ,
I will help you ."
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Fear not ,
you worm Jacob ,
you men of Israel !
I will help you ,
says the LORD ;
your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel .
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Behold ,
I will make of you a threshing sledge ,
new ,
sharp ,
and having teeth ;
you shall thresh the mountains and crush them ,
and you shall make the hills like chaff ;
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You shall winnow them and the wind shall carry them away ,
and the tempest shall scatter them .
And you shall rejoice in the LORD ;
in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory .
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When the poor and needy seek water ,
and there is none ,
and their tongue is parched with thirst ,
I the LORD will answer them ,
I the God of Israel will not forsake them .
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I will open rivers on the bare heights ,
and fountains in the midst of the valleys ;
I will make the wilderness a pool of water ,
and the dry land springs of water .
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I will put in the wilderness the cedar ,
the acacia ,
the myrtle ,
and the olive ;
I will set in the desert the cypress ,
the plane and the pine together ;
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that men may see and know ,
may consider and understand together ,
that the hand of the LORD has done this ,
the Holy One of Israel has created it .
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Set forth your case ,
says the LORD ;
bring your proofs ,
says the King of Jacob .
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Let them bring them ,
and tell us what is to happen .
Tell us the former things ,
what they are ,
that we may consider them ,
that we may know their outcome ;
or declare to us the things to come .
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Tell us what is to come hereafter ,
that we may know that you are gods ;
do good ,
or do harm ,
that we may be dismayed and terrified .
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Behold ,
you are nothing ,
and your work is nought ;
an abomination is he who chooses you .
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I stirred up one from the north ,
and he has come ,
from the rising of the sun ,
and he shall call on my name ;
he shall trample on rulers as on mortar ,
as the potter treads clay .
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Who declared it from the beginning ,
that we might know ,
and beforetime ,
that we might say , "
He is right "?
There was none who declared it ,
none who proclaimed ,
none who heard your words .
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I first have declared it to Zion ,
and I give to Jerusalem a herald of good tidings .
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But when I look there is no one ;
among these there is no counselor who ,
when I ask ,
gives an answer .
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Behold ,
they are all a delusion ;
their works are nothing ;
their molten images are empty wind .
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Behold my servant ,
whom I uphold ,
my chosen ,
in whom my soul delights ;
I have put my Spirit upon him ,
he will bring forth justice to the nations .
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He will not cry or lift up his voice ,
or make it heard in the street ;
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a bruised reed he will not break ,
and a dimly burning wick he will not quench ;
he will faithfully bring forth justice .
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He will not fail or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth ;
and the coastlands wait for his law .
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Thus says God ,
the LORD ,
who created the heavens and stretched them out ,
who spread forth the earth and what comes from it ,
who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it :
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I am the LORD ,
I have called you in righteousness ,
I have taken you by the hand and kept you ;
I have given you as a covenant to the people ,
a light to the nations ,
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to open the eyes that are blind ,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon ,
from the prison those who sit in darkness .
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I am the LORD ,
that is my name ;
my glory I give to no other ,
nor my praise to graven images .
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Behold ,
the former things have come to pass ,
and new things I now declare ;
before they spring forth I tell you of them ."
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Sing to the LORD a new song ,
his praise from the end of the earth !
Let the sea roar and all that fills it ,
the coastlands and their inhabitants .
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Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice ,
the villages that Kedar inhabits ;
let the inhabitants of Sela sing for joy ,
let them shout from the top of the mountains .
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Let them give glory to the LORD ,
and declare his praise in the coastlands .
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The LORD goes forth like a mighty man ,
like a man of war he stirs up his fury ;
he cries out ,
he shouts aloud ,
he shows himself mighty against his foes .
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For a long time I have held my peace ,
I have kept still and restrained myself ;
now I will cry out like a woman in travail ,
I will gasp and pant .
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I will lay waste mountains and hills ,
and dry up all their herbage ;
I will turn the rivers into islands ,
and dry up the pools .
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And I will lead the blind in a way that they know not ,
in paths that they have not known I will guide them .
I will turn the darkness before them into light ,
the rough places into level ground .
These are the things I will do ,
and I will not forsake them .
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They shall be turned back and utterly put to shame ,
who trust in graven images ,
who say to molten images , "
You are our gods ."
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Hear ,
you deaf ;
and look ,
you blind ,
that you may see !
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Who is blind but my servant ,
or deaf as my messenger whom I send ?
Who is blind as my dedicated one ,
or blind as the servant of the LORD ?
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He sees many things ,
but does not observe them ;
his ears are open ,
but he does not hear .
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The LORD was pleased ,
for his righteousness '
sake ,
to magnify his law and make it glorious .
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But this is a people robbed and plundered ,
they are all of them trapped in holes and hidden in prisons ;
they have become a prey with none to rescue ,
a spoil with none to say , "
Restore !"
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Who among you will give ear to this ,
will attend and listen for the time to come ?
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Who gave up Jacob to the spoiler ,
and Israel to the robbers ?
Was it not the LORD ,
against whom we have sinned ,
in whose ways they would not walk ,
and whose law they would not obey ?
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So he poured upon him the heat of his anger and the might of battle ;
it set him on fire round about ,
but he did not understand ;
it burned him ,
but he did not take it to heart .
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But now thus says the LORD ,
he who created you ,
O Jacob ,
he who formed you ,
O Israel : "
Fear not ,
for I have redeemed you ;
I have called you by name ,
you are mine .
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When you pass through the waters I will be with you ;
and through the rivers ,
they shall not overwhelm you ;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned ,
and the flame shall not consume you .
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For I am the LORD your God ,
the Holy One of Israel ,
your Savior .
I give Egypt as your ransom ,
Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you .
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Because you are precious in my eyes ,
and honored ,
and I love you ,
I give men in return for you ,
peoples in exchange for your life .
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Fear not ,
for I am with you ;
I will bring your offspring from the east ,
and from the west I will gather you ;
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I will say to the north ,
Give up ,
and to the south ,
Do not withhold ;
bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth ,
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every one who is called by my name ,
whom I created for my glory ,
whom I formed and made ."
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Bring forth the people who are blind ,
yet have eyes ,
who are deaf ,
yet have ears !
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Let all the nations gather together ,
and let the peoples assemble .
Who among them can declare this ,
and show us the former things ?
Let them bring their witnesses to justify them ,
and let them hear and say ,
It is true .
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You are my witnesses ,"
says the LORD , "
and my servant whom I have chosen ,
that you may know and believe me and understand that I am He .
Before me no god was formed ,
nor shall there be any after me .
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I ,
I am the LORD ,
and besides me there is no savior .
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I declared and saved and proclaimed ,
when there was no strange god among you ;
and you are my witnesses ,"
says the LORD .
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I am God ,
and also henceforth I am He ;
there is none who can deliver from my hand ;
I work and who can hinder it ?"
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Thus says the LORD ,
your Redeemer ,
the Holy One of Israel : "
For your sake I will send to Babylon and break down all the bars ,
and the shouting of the Chalde '
ans will be turned to lamentations .
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I am the LORD ,
your Holy One ,
the Creator of Israel ,
your King ."
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Thus says the LORD ,
who makes a way in the sea ,
a path in the mighty waters ,
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who brings forth chariot and horse ,
army and warrior ;
they lie down ,
they cannot rise ,
they are extinguished ,
quenched like a wick :
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Remember not the former things ,
nor consider the things of old .
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Behold ,
I am doing a new thing ;
now it springs forth ,
do you not perceive it ?
I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert .
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The wild beasts will honor me ,
the jackals and the ostriches ;
for I give water in the wilderness ,
rivers in the desert ,
to give drink to my chosen people ,
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the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise .
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Yet you did not call upon me ,
O Jacob ;
but you have been weary of me ,
O Israel !
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You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings ,
or honored me with your sacrifices .
I have not burdened you with offerings ,
or wearied you with frankincense .
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You have not bought me sweet cane with money ,
or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices .
But you have burdened me with your sins ,
you have wearied me with your iniquities .
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I ,
I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake ,
and I will not remember your sins .
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Put me in remembrance ,
let us argue together ;
set forth your case ,
that you may be proved right .
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Your first father sinned ,
and your mediators transgressed against me .
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Therefore I profaned the princes of the sanctuary ,
I delivered Jacob to utter destruction and Israel to reviling .
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But now hear ,
O Jacob my servant ,
Israel whom I have chosen !