Nehemiah 9:8
And foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give it, I say, to his seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou art righteous:
The verse belongs to a gathering in Jerusalem where the Book of the Law of Moses was held open before a large attentive assembly from a raised wooden platform, with the Ten Commandments set forth as the foundation of the instruction. In its chapter it stands within Israel's recounting of the Lord's goodness and works for His people alongside their own ingratitude and turning away from Him, acknowledging the justice of His dealings with them, whose sins in turning from Him separated them from Him so that He permitted heathen nations to control them. It recalls that God found Abraham's heart faithful before Him, made a covenant to give his descendants the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites, and Girgashites, and performed His words because He is righteous.
It is part of the response to hearing the law read, when leaders and people humbled themselves before God in deep repentance and return to Him, confessing their own sins and their people's sins and asking for pardon. After this recounting the people entered a written covenant to obey God's law, including a promise not to intermarry with the peoples of the land. The deep repentance and return to God shown in this response is the kind of response John's preaching was meant to produce.