John the Baptist Is Born

⁵⁷ Now the time ^[a]had come for Elizabeth to give birth, and she gave birth to a son. ⁵⁸ Her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had ^[b](A)displayed His great mercy toward her; and they were rejoicing with her.

⁵⁹ And it happened that on ^(B)the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to call him Zechariah, ^[c]after his father. ⁶⁰ And yet his mother responded and said, “No indeed; but ^(C)he shall be called John.” ⁶¹ And they said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name.” ⁶² And they ^[d](D)made signs to his father, as to what he wanted him called. ⁶³ And he asked for a tablet and wrote ^[e]as follows, “^(E)His name is John.” And they were all amazed.

⁴ Now John himself had ^[a](A)a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was ^(B)locusts and wild honey.

John the Baptist Beheaded

14 ^[a](A)At that time ^[b](B)Herod ^[c]the tetrarch heard the news about Jesus, ² and said to his servants, “^(C)This is John the Baptist; he himself has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

³ For when ^(D)Herod had John arrested, he bound him and put him ^(E)in prison because of ^(F)Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. ⁴ For John had been saying to him, “^(G)It is not lawful for you to have her.” ⁵ Although Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they regarded ^[d]John as ^(H)a prophet.

⁶ But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of ^(I)Herodias danced ^[e]before them and pleased ^(J)Herod, ⁷ so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. ⁸ And after being prompted by her mother, she *said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” ⁹ And although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths and ^[f]his dinner guests. ¹⁰ He sent word and had John beheaded in the prison. ¹¹ And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. ^12 [g]John’s disciples came and took away the body and buried ^[h]it; and they went and reported to Jesus.