Nehemiah 1:7 (DRB)

Passage

We have been seduced by vanity, and have not kept thy commandments, and ceremonies and judgments, which thou hast commanded thy servant Moses.

Nearby Context

Nehemiah 1:5 And I said: I beseech thee, O Lord God of heaven, strong, great, and terrible, who keepest covenant and mercy with those that love thee, and keep thy commandments:

Nehemiah 1:6 Let thy ears be attentive, and thy eyes open, to hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, night and day, for the children of Israel thy servants: and I confess the sins of the children of Israel, by which they have sinned against thee: I and my father's house have sinned.

Nehemiah 1:7 We have been seduced by vanity, and have not kept thy commandments, and ceremonies and judgments, which thou hast commanded thy servant Moses.

Nehemiah 1:8 Remember the word that thou commandedst to Moses thy servant, saying: If you shall transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations:

Nehemiah 1:9 But if you return to me, and keep my commandments, and do them, though you should be led away to the uttermost parts of the world, I will gather you from thence, and bring you back to the place which I have chosen for my name to dwell there.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "been", "seduced", "vanity", "kept", "commandments", "ceremonies", "judgments", and "thou". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "been" and "seduced", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 6's "Let thy ears be attentive and thy..." into verse 8's "Remember the word that thou commandedst to...", so "been" and "seduced" 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 "been" and "seduced" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.