Passage
How long [shall I bear] with this evil assembly, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.
Numbers 14:27 (DBY)
Nearby Context
Numbers 14:25 (Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valley.) To-morrow turn you, and take your journey into the wilderness, on the way to the Red sea.
Numbers 14:26 And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
Numbers 14:27 How long [shall I bear] with this evil assembly, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.
Numbers 14:28 Say unto them, As surely as I live, saith Jehovah, if I do not do unto you as ye have spoken in mine ears!
Numbers 14:29 In this wilderness shall your carcases fall; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number from twenty years old and upwards, who have murmured against me,
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "long", "shall", "bear", "evil", "assembly", "murmur", "against", and "heard". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "long" and "shall", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 26's "And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to..." into verse 28's "Say unto them As surely as I...", so "long" and "shall" 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 "long" and "shall" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.