and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land, [who] have heard that thou, Jehovah, art in the midst of this people, that thou, Jehovah, lettest thyself be seen eye to eye, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night;
Numbers 14:12 I will smite them with the pestilence, and destroy them, and will make of thee a nation greater and mightier than they.
Numbers 14:13 And Moses said to Jehovah, Then the Egyptians will hear it; for in thy might thou broughtest up this people from the midst of them;
Numbers 14:14 and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land, [who] have heard that thou, Jehovah, art in the midst of this people, that thou, Jehovah, lettest thyself be seen eye to eye, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night;
Numbers 14:15 if thou now slayest this people as one man, then the nations that have heard thy fame will speak, saying,
Numbers 14:16 Because Jehovah was not able to bring this people into the land that he had sworn unto them, he has therefore slain them in the wilderness.
The verse centers on "tell", "inhabitants", "land", "heard", "thou", "jehovah", "midst", and "people". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "tell" and "inhabitants", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 13's "And Moses said to Jehovah Then the..." into verse 15's "if thou now slayest this people as...", so "tell" and "inhabitants" belong inside that flow. In Numbers context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.
A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "tell" and "inhabitants" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.