Nebuchadnezzar Arrives
- King Nebuchadnezzar starts reigning on Babylon. Jehoiakim is his servant or vassal for three years, but then rebels against him.
- God sends the Chaldeans and numerous other peoples allied with them all come to destroy Judah, in accordance with the prophecies of total destruction for Judah.
- The narrator says this is mainly punishment for Manasseh's sins and all the innocent people he killed.
- The Babylonians put down the Egyptians, making them a non-power.
- When Jehoiakim dies, his son Jehoiachin succeeds him.
- Jehoiachin starts reigning at age eighteen and stays in power three more months. He's another bad king, says the narrator.
- In the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, he besieges Jerusalem. Jehoiachin surrenders himself and the whole royal family into the captivity of the Babylonians.
Exile from Mainstreet
- Nebuchadnezzar loots Jerusalem, steals all the treasures of the Temple, and cuts the vessels dedicated to God into pieces.
- He captures all the people of Jerusalem—warriors, smiths, and artisans so on—everyone except the poorest people.
- He takes the entirety of the royal family and the royal house, along with all the officials and government people and the elite.
- Nebuchadnezzar makes Mattaniah, Jehoiachin's brother, the new (puppet) king. He renames him Zedekiah.
- Zedekiah reigns for eleven years, beginning at age twenty-one. He's yet another sinful king. It is under his reign that the final stages of the exile will happen.
- Eventually, Zedekiah rebels against Nebuchadnezzar.