And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that thou LORD art among this people, that thou LORD art seen face to face, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, by day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night.
Numbers 14:12 I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they.
Numbers 14:13 And Moses said unto the LORD, Then the Egyptians shall hear it, (for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them;)
Numbers 14:14 And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that thou LORD art among this people, that thou LORD art seen face to face, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, by day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night.
Numbers 14:15 Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying,
Numbers 14:16 Because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness.
The verse centers on "tell", "inhabitants", "land", "heard", "thou", "lord", 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 unto the LORD Then..." into verse 15's "Now if thou shalt kill all this...", 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.