Limit While have_posts to 3 posts

For the code below how would I limit the amount of posts shown to 3?
UPDATE
Found what I needed to do I needed to add this line
<?php query_posts(‘posts_per_page=1’);?>my while loop.

<?php if(have_posts()) : while(have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>
<? if ($post->ID != $featured_ID) { ?>
<h2><a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>" title="<?php the_title(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></h2>
<small>on <?php the_time('M d'); ?> in <?php the_category(', '); ?> tagged <?php the_tags(''); ?> by <?php the_author_posts_link(); ?></small>
<?php the_excerpt(); ?>
<div class="separator biggap"></div>
<? } ?>
<?php endwhile ?>
 <?php endif; ?>