The Babylonian troops return to Jerusalem, which manages to resist for a while. When all seemed lost, the king opened a breach in the city wall and escaped at night, but he was captured by the Babylonians near Jericho and taken prisoner to Riblah. There, Nebuchadnezzar executed the sons of the king of Judah, gouged out the king’s eyes, and took him in chains to Babylon. Meanwhile, Jerusalem was destroyed, its walls torn down, and the Temple burned; the high priest was captured, and the rest of the population was deported, leaving only a few of the lowest social classes. “Thus Judah went into exile” (21).