Of course, Jeremiah's prophecy, at the moment of his anger, that Jehoiakim's body would be thrown to the dogs, did not come true; but the king's death did not in any way put off the calamity that was to befall Jerusalem and its people. Upon hearing of Jehoiakim's death, Nebuchadrezzar, at Riblah, hastened his preparations to besiege Jerusalem. An eighteen-year-old boy, Coniah, also known as Jehoiachin, succeeded his incapable father to the throne. Jeremiah's advice to the young king was to submit to Nebuchadrezzar and remain in peace. The policy of Nebuchadrezzar, with regard to his dependencies, was that of peace. As long as they did not rebel and paid their tribute, he left them entirely undisturbed to work out their own futures. So Jeremiah hoped that if Jehoiachin would at once show his willingness to be honest with Nebuchadrezzar, there would still be a chance for the country. Therefore he sent this message to the king: "Say to the king and to the queen mother, 'Sit ye down low, For from the head hath fallen your fair crown.'" Urged on by the queen mother and his father's counselors, however, Jehoiachin proposed to hold out against the Babylonian siege. Jeremiah, therefore, delivered the following oration in Jerusalem: "As I live, saith the Lord, though Coniah (Jehoiachin), the son of Jehioakim, wore the signet ring upon my right hand, I would pluck him thence. And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, whom thou dreadest, into the hands of the Chaldeans, and I will hurl thee forth, and thy mother who bore thee, into a land where ye were not born, and there ye shall die. But to the land for which they long they shall not return. "Is Coniah despised as a broken vessel and thrown forth into a land which he knoweth not? O land, land, hear the word of the Lord! Write down this man as childless! For no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David and ruling any more in Judah." But Jehoiachin continued his stubborn defense until, driven by the horrors of famine, he "together with his mother and his servants, his princes and his chamberlains went to meet Nebuchadrezzar." On this unconditional surrender, Nebuchadrezzar determined never again to be troubled by stiff-necked, rebellious Judah. To that end he thoroughly ransacked the treasuries of the Temple and of the royal palace. He took away all the gold vessels that belonged to the worship of the Temple and, in addition, carried away "as captives, all Jerusalem and all the princes and all the mighty warriors, even ten thousand, and all the craftsmen and the smiths; none remained, except the poorest people of the land. "And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon; and the king's mother and the king's wives, and his chamberlains, and the chief men of the land he carried into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.