Numbers 14:42 (GNV)

Passage

Goe not vp (for the Lord is not among you) lest ye be ouerthrowe before your enemies.

Nearby Context

Numbers 14:40 And they rose vp earely in the morning, and gate them vp into the toppe of the mountaine, saying, Loe, we be readie, to goe vp to the place which the Lord hath promised: for wee haue sinned.

Numbers 14:41 But Moses said, Wherefore transgresse yee thus the commandement of the Lord? it will not so come well to passe.

Numbers 14:42 Goe not vp (for the Lord is not among you) lest ye be ouerthrowe before your enemies.

Numbers 14:43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sworde: for in as much as ye are turned away from the Lord, the Lord also will not be with you.

Numbers 14:44 Yet they presumed obstinately to goe vp to the top of the mountaine: but the Arke of the couenant of the Lord, and Moses departed not out of the campe.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "lord", "lest", "ouerthrowe", "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 "But Moses said Wherefore transgresse yee thus..." into verse 43's "For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are...", 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.