¹⁶ Then Johanan son of Kareah and the other military leaders took all the people they had rescued in Gibeon—the soldiers, women, children, and court officials^[a] whom Ishmael had captured after he killed Gedaliah. ¹⁷ They took them all to the village of Geruth-kimham near Bethlehem, where they prepared to leave for Egypt. ¹⁸ They were afraid of what the Babylonians^[b] would do when they heard that Ishmael had killed Gedaliah, the governor appointed by the Babylonian king.