Passage
And they found written in the law, that the Lord had commanded by the hand of Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in tabernacles, on the feast, in the seventh month:
Nehemiah 8:14 (DRB)
Nearby Context
Nehemiah 8:12 So all the people went to eat and drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth: because they understood the words that he had taught them.
Nehemiah 8:13 And on the second day the chiefs of the families of all the people, the priests, and the Levites were gathered together to Esdras the scribe, that he should interpret to them the words of the law.
Nehemiah 8:14 And they found written in the law, that the Lord had commanded by the hand of Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in tabernacles, on the feast, in the seventh month:
Nehemiah 8:15 And that they should proclaim and publish the word in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying: Go forth to the mount, and fetch branches of olive, and branches of beautiful wood, branches of myrtle, and branches of palm, and branches of thick trees, to make tabernacles, as it is written.
Nehemiah 8:16 And the people went forth, and brought. And they made themselves tabernacles every man on the top of his house, and in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the street of the water gate, and in the street of the gate of Ephraim.
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "found", "written", "lord", "commanded", "hand", "moses", "children", and "israel". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "found" and "written", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 13's "And on the second day the chiefs..." into verse 15's "And that they should proclaim and publish...", so "found" and "written" 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 "found" and "written" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.