Nehemiah 1:9 (YLT)

Passage

and ye have turned back unto Me, and kept My commands, and done them--if your outcast is in the end of the heavens, thence I gather them, and have brought them in unto the place that I have chosen to cause My name to tabernacle there.

Nearby Context

Nehemiah 1:7 we have acted very corruptly against Thee, and have not kept the commands, and the statutes, and the judgments, that Thou didst command Moses Thy servant.

Nehemiah 1:8 `Remember, I pray Thee, the word that Thou didst command Moses Thy servant, saying, Ye--ye trespass--I scatter you among peoples;

Nehemiah 1:9 and ye have turned back unto Me, and kept My commands, and done them--if your outcast is in the end of the heavens, thence I gather them, and have brought them in unto the place that I have chosen to cause My name to tabernacle there.

Nehemiah 1:10 And they <FI>are<Fi> Thy servants, and Thy people, whom Thou hast ransomed by Thy great power, and by Thy strong hand.

Nehemiah 1:11 `I beseech Thee, O Lord, let, I pray Thee, Thine ear be attentive unto the prayer of Thy servant, and unto the prayer of Thy servants, those delighting to fear Thy Name; and give prosperity, I pray Thee, to Thy servant to-day, and give him for mercies before this man;' and I have been butler to the king.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "turned", "back", "kept", "commands", "done", "them--if", "outcast", and "heavens". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "turned" and "back", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 8's "Remember I pray Thee the word that..." into verse 10's "And they FI are Fi Thy servants...", so "turned" and "back" 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 "turned" and "back" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.