Nehemiah 9:4
Then stood up upon the stairs, of the Levites, Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, and cried with a loud voice unto the LORD their God. Then stood up upon the stairs, of the Levites, Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, and cried with a loud voice unto the LORD their God.
The verse belongs to the gathering in Jerusalem after the wall had been rebuilt while much of the city still lay in ruins, when the people assembled at the Feast of Trumpets. At that gathering Ezra stood on a raised wooden platform before a large assembly and held open the Book of the Law of Moses for the people to hear, an event framed by the Ten Commandments. The people bowed in worship as he blessed God, with Levites gathered beside him. The verse also belongs to a solemn service held two days after the Feast of Tabernacles, after the people had heard the law and recognized their own sins and their ancestors' departure from God.
Its chapter repeats the Lord's works on behalf of His people and points out the people's sins in turning from God. The verse shows the Levites publicly crying with a loud voice to the Lord and leading the people in calling on Him during the people's return to Him, after they had separated themselves from the heathen, confessed their sins, and sought God's mercy. At that time of humble prayer and confession, Ezra and Nehemiah acknowledged both their own sins and the sins of their people and pleaded for pardon as though they themselves were guilty.
The verse means that those sins had separated the people from God, so He had permitted them to be brought under the control of heathen nations, demonstrating that He would not serve with their sins. The response called for when God's law was read is deep repentance and renewed faithfulness to the Lord, with trust that God heard and pardoned them and praise to Him for His goodness, not repentance alone.