Jeremiah 1:4 (DBY)

Passage

And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

Nearby Context

Jeremiah 1:2 to whom the word of Jehovah came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign;

Jeremiah 1:3 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.

Jeremiah 1:4 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

Jeremiah 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I hallowed thee, I appointed thee a prophet unto the nations.

Jeremiah 1:6 And I said, Alas, Lord Jehovah! behold, I cannot speak; for I am a child.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "word", "jehovah", "came", and "saying". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "word" and "jehovah", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "it came also in the days of..." into verse 5's "Before I formed thee in the belly...", so "word" and "jehovah" belong inside that flow. In Jeremiah context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "word" and "jehovah" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.