Then Moses selected three cities in the Transjordan, toward the east.

you must set apart for yourselves three cities in the middle of your land that the Lord your God is giving you as a possession.

Therefore, I am commanding you to set apart for yourselves three cities.

All of these cities were fortified by high walls, gates, and locking bars; in addition there were a great many open villages.

Listen, Israel: Today you are about to cross the Jordan so you can dispossess the nations there, people greater and stronger than you who live in large cities with extremely high fortifications.

What is going to happen to us? Our brothers have drained away our courage by describing people who are more numerous and taller than we are, and great cities whose defenses appear to be as high as heaven itself! Moreover, they said they saw Anakites there.”

Then when the Lord your God brings you to the land he promised your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give you – a land with large, fine cities you did not build,

and then you are careful to observe all these commandments I am giving you today (namely, to love the Lord your God and to always walk in his ways), then you must add three more cities to these three.