Passage
Then they shall say to the inhabitants of this land, (for they haue heard that thou, Lord, art among this people, and that thou, Lord, art seene face to face, and that thy cloude standeth ouer them, and that thou goest before them by day time in a pillar of a cloude, and in a pillar of fire by night)
Nearby Context
Numbers 14:12 I will smite them with the pestilence and destroy them, and will make thee a greater nation and mightier then they.
Numbers 14:13 But Moses saide vnto the Lord, When the Egyptians shall heare it, (for thou broughtest this people by thy power from among them)
Numbers 14:14 Then they shall say to the inhabitants of this land, (for they haue heard that thou, Lord, art among this people, and that thou, Lord, art seene face to face, and that thy cloude standeth ouer them, and that thou goest before them by day time in a pillar of a cloude, and in a pillar of fire by night)
Numbers 14:15 That thou wilt kill this people as one man: so the heathen which haue heard the fame of thee, shall thus say,
Numbers 14:16 Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the lande, which he sware vnto them, therefore hath he slaine them in the wildernesse.
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "shall", "inhabitants", "land", "haue", "heard", "thou", "lord", and "people". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "shall" and "inhabitants", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 13's "But Moses saide vnto the Lord When..." into verse 15's "That thou wilt kill this people as...", so "shall" 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 "shall" and "inhabitants" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.