These cities were ¹  in the desert: Beth Arabah, Middin, Secacah,

This is why Joshua had to circumcise them: All the men old enough to fight when they left Egypt died on the journey through the desert after they left Egypt. ¹ 

Now ¹  all the men ²  who left were circumcised, but all the sons ³  born on the journey through the desert after they left Egypt were uncircumcised.

When Israel had finished killing all the men ¹  of Ai who had chased them toward the desert ²  (they all fell by the sword), ³  all Israel returned to Ai and put the sword to it.

Beyond the Jordan east of Jericho ¹  they selected ²  Bezer in the desert on the plain belonging to the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead belonging to the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan belonging to the tribe of Manasseh.

Your fathers ¹  cried out for help to the Lord; he made the area between you and the Egyptians dark, ²  and then drowned them in the sea. ³  You witnessed with your very own eyes ⁴  what I did in Egypt. You lived in the wilderness for a long time. ⁵ 

Indeed, for forty years the Israelites traveled through the desert until all the men old enough to fight when they left Egypt, the ones who had disobeyed the Lord, died off. ¹  For the Lord had sworn a solemn oath to them that he would not let them see the land he had sworn on oath to give them, ²  a land rich in ³  milk and honey.

So now, look, the Lord has preserved my life, just as he promised, these past forty-five years since the Lord spoke these words to Moses, during which Israel traveled through the wilderness. Now look, I am today eighty-five years old.