Nehemiah 1:4 (GNV)

Passage

And when I heard these wordes, I sate downe and wept, and mourned certeine dayes, and I fasted and prayed before the God of heauen,

Nearby Context

Nehemiah 1:2 Came Hanam, one of my brethren, he and the men of Iudah, and I asked them concerning the Iewes that were deliuered, which were of the residue of the captiuitie, and concerning Ierusalem.

Nehemiah 1:3 And they sayde vnto me, The residue that are left of the captiuitie there in the prouince, are in great affliction and in reproche, and the wall of Ierusalem is broken downe, and the gates thereof are burnt with fire.

Nehemiah 1:4 And when I heard these wordes, I sate downe and wept, and mourned certeine dayes, and I fasted and prayed before the God of heauen,

Nehemiah 1:5 And sayde, O Lord God of heauen, the great and terrible God, that keepeth couenant and mercy for them that loue him, and obserue his commandements,

Nehemiah 1:6 I pray thee, let thine eares be attet, and thine eies open, to heare the praier of thy seruat, which I pray before thee dayly, day and night for ye childre of Israel thy seruats, and confesse the sinnes of the children of Israel, which we haue sinned against thee, both I and my fathers house haue sinned:

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "heard", "wordes", "sate", "downe", "wept", "mourned", "certeine", and "dayes". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "heard" and "wordes", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "And they sayde vnto me The residue..." into verse 5's "And sayde O Lord God of heauen...", so "heard" and "wordes" 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 "heard" and "wordes" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.