Jeremiah 1:3 — Meaning and Application

The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that {were} in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:

To whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.

It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.

Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, {and} I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. {ordained: Heb. gave}