⁸ Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”

¹⁸ For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”^{(A) 19} So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, ²⁰ because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man.^(B) When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled^[a]; yet he liked to listen to him.

²¹ Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet^(C) for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee.^{(D) 22} When the daughter of^[b] Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests.

The king said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.” ²³ And he promised her with an oath, “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.”^(E)

²⁴ She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?”

“The head of John the Baptist,” she answered.

²⁵ At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”

²⁶ The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. ²⁷ So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, ²⁸ and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother.