In
596, the cream of Jerusalemites is taken captive and resettled in Mesopotamia.
Prophet Jeremiah writes a letter to the exiles, encouraging them to prepare
for a long period of sojourn in Babylonia (see Jeremiah
Ch. 29). He also counsels King Zedekiah of Judah to submit to Nebuchadnezzar,
but to no avail. Temple, city, and state are destroyed in 586.