and that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, “Go out to the mountain, and get olive branches, branches of wild olive, myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make temporary shelters, as it is written.”
Nehemiah 8:13 On the second day, the heads of fathers’ households of all the people, the priests, and the Levites were gathered together to Ezra the scribe, to study the words of the law.
Nehemiah 8:14 They found written in the law how Yahweh had commanded by Moses that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month;
Nehemiah 8:15 and that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, “Go out to the mountain, and get olive branches, branches of wild olive, myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make temporary shelters, as it is written.”
Nehemiah 8:16 So the people went out, and brought them, and made themselves temporary shelters, everyone on the roof of his house, in their courts, in the courts of God’s house, in the wide place of the water gate, and in the wide place of Ephraim’s gate.
Nehemiah 8:17 All the assembly of those who had come back out of the captivity made temporary shelters, and lived in the booths; for since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun to that day the children of Israel had not done so. There was very great gladness.
The verse centers on "should", "publish", "proclaim", "cities", "jerusalem", "saying", "mountain", and "olive". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "should" and "publish", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 14's "They found written in the law how..." into verse 16's "So the people went out and brought...", so "should" and "publish" 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 "should" and "publish" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.