Zedekiah

Zedekiah was the last king of Judah, installed by Nebuchadnezzar II after Jehoiachin's deportation, reigning around 597–586 BC. Though warned repeatedly by Jeremiah not to rebel against Babylon, Zedekiah vacillated between heeding the prophet and bowing to court pressure, ultimately refusing to surrender (Jeremiah 37–38). When Babylon laid final siege to Jerusalem, Zedekiah fled by night but was captured in the plains of Jericho. Brought before Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah, he was forced to watch his sons executed before his eyes—the last thing he saw—before being blinded and taken in chains to Babylon, where he died in prison (2 Kings 25:1–7). Jerusalem fell and the temple was destroyed in 586 BC, ending the Davidic monarchy.