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4. We Lived Before We Were Born
What Latter-day Saints believe
Latter-day Saints believe our lives did not begin at birth. We lived in God’s presence as spirits before this life, where we learned, made choices, and prepared to come to earth. Some were foreordained, or chosen in advance, for particular missions. Life on earth is the next chapter of a story that began long ago.
4Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 5Before 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.
“Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee.” God tells Jeremiah He knew him and ordained him a prophet before he was born.
2. Job 38:4-7
4Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. 5Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? 6Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; 7When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
God asks Job where he was when the earth’s foundations were laid, “when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” Latter-day Saints believe we were there as His children.
3. Ecclesiastes 12:7
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
At death the body returns to dust, “and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” You can only return to a place you have been before.
4. John 9:1-2
1And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. 2And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
The disciples ask whether a man born blind had sinned before birth. Their question shows they considered life before birth possible, and Jesus does not correct the idea itself.
5. Ephesians 1:3-4
3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
God “hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world.”
6. Romans 8:29
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Those whom God “did foreknow, he also did predestinate.” Latter-day Saints read this as foreordination in the premortal life, not as taking away our freedom to choose.
7. 2 Timothy 1:9
Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
God’s purpose and grace were “given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.”
8. Titus 1:2
In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
God promised eternal life “before the world began.” The promise had to be made to someone.
9. John 17:5
And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
Jesus speaks of the glory He had with the Father “before the world was.”
10. Zechariah 12:1
The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.
The Lord “formeth the spirit of man within him.”
11. Jude 1:6
And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
Some angels “kept not their first estate.” Latter-day Saints understand the first estate as our premortal life.
How other Christians read these verses
Most Christians believe a person’s soul begins at conception or birth, and early church councils rejected the idea that human souls existed before birth. They usually read Jeremiah 1:5 as God’s perfect foreknowledge rather than as evidence that Jeremiah lived before he was born.
Full index: 44 verses
Includes the key verses above, the Church's Topical Guide, and every King James verse that uses these words: before the foundation of the world, before the world began. Key verses are highlighted. Tap a book to open it.
Numbers (2)
Numbers 16:22 And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?
Numbers 27:16 Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation,
Job (4)
Job 38:4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.
Job 38:5 Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?
Job 38:6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;
Job 38:7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
Proverbs (10)
Proverbs 8:22 The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old.
Proverbs 8:23 I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.
Proverbs 8:24 When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water.
Proverbs 8:25 Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth:
Proverbs 8:26 While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world.
Proverbs 8:27 When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth:
Proverbs 8:28 When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep:
Proverbs 8:29 When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth:
Proverbs 8:30 Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him;
Proverbs 8:31 Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men.
Ecclesiastes (1)
Ecclesiastes 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
Jeremiah (2)
Jeremiah 1:4 Then the word of the LORD 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 sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
Zechariah (1)
Zechariah 12:1 The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.
Matthew (2)
Matthew 13:35 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.
Matthew 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Luke (1)
Luke 11:50 That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;
John (8)
John 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.
John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
John 8:58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
John 9:1 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
John 9:2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
John 16:28 I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.
John 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
John 17:24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
Acts (1)
Acts 17:28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
Romans (1)
Romans 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Ephesians (2)
Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
Ephesians 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
2 Timothy (1)
2 Timothy 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
Titus (1)
Titus 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
Hebrews (2)
Hebrews 4:3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
Hebrews 12:9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
1 Peter (1)
1 Peter 1:20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
Jude (1)
Jude 1:6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
Revelation (3)
Revelation 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
Revelation 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Revelation 17:8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
