Numbers 14:42 (DRB)

Passage

Go not up, for the Lord is not with you: lest you fall before your enemies.

Nearby Context

Numbers 14:40 And behold rising up very early in the morning, they went up to the top of the mountain, and said: We are ready to go up to the place, of which the Lord hath spoken: for we have sinned.

Numbers 14:41 And Moses said to them: Why transgress you the word of the Lord, which shall not succeed prosperously with you?

Numbers 14:42 Go not up, for the Lord is not with you: lest you fall before your enemies.

Numbers 14:43 The Amalecite and the Chanaanite are before you, and by their sword you shall fall, because you would not consent to the Lord, neither will the Lord be with you.

Numbers 14:44 But they being blinded went up to the top of the mountain. But the ark of the testament of the Lord and Moses departed not from the camp.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "lord", "lest", "fall", "before", and "enemies". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "lord" and "lest", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 41's "And Moses said to them Why transgress..." into verse 43's "The Amalecite and the Chanaanite are before...", so "lord" and "lest" 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 "lord" and "lest" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.