Nehemiah 1:7 (ASV)

Passage

we have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses.

Nearby Context

Nehemiah 1:5 and said, I beseech thee, O Jehovah, the God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and lovingkindness with them that love him and keep his commandments:

Nehemiah 1:6 Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee at this time, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants while I confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee. Yea, I and my father`s house have sinned:

Nehemiah 1:7 we have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses.

Nehemiah 1:8 Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye trespass, I will scatter you abroad among the peoples:

Nehemiah 1:9 but if ye return unto me, and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts were in the uttermost part of the heavens, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen, to cause my name to dwell there.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "dealt", "very", "corruptly", "against", "thee", "kept", "commandments", and "statutes". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "dealt" and "very", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 6's "Let thine ear now be attentive and..." into verse 8's "Remember I beseech thee the word that...", so "dealt" and "very" belong inside that flow. In Nehemiah context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

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