Nehemiah 8:6 (GNV)

Passage

And Ezra praysed the Lord the great God, and all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting vp their handes: and they bowed themselues, and worshipped the Lord with their faces toward the grounde.

Nearby Context

Nehemiah 8:4 And Ezra the Scribe stoode vpon a pulpit of wood which he had made for the preaching, and beside him stood Mattithiah, and Shema, and Ananiah, and Vriiah, and Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hande, and on his left hand Pedaiah, and Mishael, and Malchiah, and Hashum, and Hashbadana, Zechariah, and Meshullam.

Nehemiah 8:5 And Ezra opened the booke before all the people: for hee was aboue all the people: and when he opened it, all the people stoode vp.

Nehemiah 8:6 And Ezra praysed the Lord the great God, and all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting vp their handes: and they bowed themselues, and worshipped the Lord with their faces toward the grounde.

Nehemiah 8:7 Also Ieshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Iamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Iozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Leuites caused the people to vnderstand the lawe, and the people stood in their place.

Nehemiah 8:8 And they read in the booke of the Lawe of God distinctly, and gaue the sense, and caused them to vnderstand the reading.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "ezra", "praysed", "lord", "great", "people", "answered", and "amen". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "ezra" and "praysed", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 5's "And Ezra opened the booke before all..." into verse 7's "Also Ieshua and Bani and Sherebiah Iamin...", so "ezra" and "praysed" 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 "ezra" and "praysed" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.