Nehemiah 9:5
Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, Stand up and bless the LORD your God for ever and ever: and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.
The verse belongs to the gathering of the people in Jerusalem for the Feast of Trumpets, where they worshiped the Lord and blessed Him. At that gathering Ezra stood on a raised wooden platform holding open the Book of the Law of Moses before a large assembly in a street in Jerusalem, with robed men listening attentively and other leaders standing with him amid partly ruined buildings, under the authority of the Ten Commandments. The verse is part of the Levites' worship and instruction when the law was explained in language the people could understand. It records the leaders urging the people to stand and bless the Lord forever and ever, and to bless His glorious name as exalted above all blessing and praise.
The call stands in a rehearsal of the works of the Lord on behalf of His people joined with pointing out the sins of the people in turning from God. Those sins had separated them from God, and He had permitted them to be brought under the control of heathen nations, showing that He would not serve with their sins. The verse is part of the account of Ezra and Nehemiah humbling themselves before God, confessing their own sins and the sins of their people, and praying for pardon. After confessing their sins and seeking pardon, the people were to show faith that God had heard and pardoned them by recounting His mercies and praising His goodness.
The reading of the law in the days of Ezra and Josiah was the kind of effect John expected his own message to produce, namely deep repentance and a return to the Lord.