The Story of John the Baptist

SCRIPTURE: Luke 1:1-25, 39-45, 57-80; 3:1-22; Mark 1:1-11; Mat 3:1-17; John 1:5-34; 3:22-36; Luke 7:18-25; Mat 11:1-19; Luke 9:7-9; Mark 6:14-29; Mat 14:1-2; (Malachi 3:1-5; 4:1-6; Isaiah 40:1-5)

Dedication to Theophilus

Luke 1:1-4

Since many have undertaken to set in order a narrative concerning those matters which have been fulfilled among us, ² even as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word delivered them to us, ³ it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things accurately from the first, to write to you in order, most excellent Theophilus; ⁴ that you might know the certainty concerning the things in which you were instructed.

Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

Luke 1:5-25

There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the priestly division of Abijah. He had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. ⁶ They were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord. ⁷ But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they both were well advanced in years.

⁸ Now while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his division, ⁹ according to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to enter into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. ¹⁰ The whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense.

¹¹ An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. ¹² Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.

¹³ But the angel said to him, “Don’t be afraid, Zacharias, because your request has been heard, and your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. ¹⁴ You will have joy and gladness; and many will rejoice at his birth. ¹⁵ For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will drink no wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. ¹⁶ He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. ¹⁷ He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to prepare a people prepared for the Lord.”

¹⁸ Zacharias said to the angel, “How can I be sure of this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.”

¹⁹ The angel answered him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God. I was sent to speak to you, and to bring you this good news. ²⁰ Behold, you will be silent and not able to speak, until the day that these things will happen, because you didn’t believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.”

²¹ The people were waiting for Zacharias, and they marvelled that he delayed in the temple. ²² When he came out, he could not speak to them, and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple. He continued making signs to them, and remained mute. ²³ When the days of his service were fulfilled, he departed to his house.

²⁴ After these days Elizabeth, his wife, conceived, and she hid herself five months, saying, ²⁵ “Thus the Lord has done to me in the days in which he looked at me, to take away my reproach among men.”

Key Verses:

Luke 1:13-17 WEB
But the angel said to him, “Don’t be afraid, Zacharias, because your request has been heard, and your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. (14) You will have joy and gladness; and many will rejoice at his birth. (15) For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will drink no wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. (16) He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord, their God. (17) He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to prepare a people prepared for the Lord.”

Malachi 4:1-6 BSB
“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of Hosts. “Not a root or branch will be left to them.”
(2) “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and leap like calves from the stall. (3) Then you will trample the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day I am preparing,” says the LORD of Hosts.
(4) “Remember the law of My servant Moses, the statutes and ordinances I commanded him for all Israel at Horeb. (5) Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD. (6) And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

Insights:

Study notes here

Mary Visits Elizabeth

Luke 1:39-45

Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah, ⁴⁰ and entered into the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

⁴² She called out with a loud voice, and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! ⁴³ Why am I so favoured, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴ For behold, when the voice of your greeting came into my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy! ⁴⁵ Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfilment of the things which have been spoken to her from the Lord!”

The Birth of John the Baptist

Luke 1:57-66

Now the time that Elizabeth should give birth was fulfilled, and she gave birth to a son. ⁵⁸ Her neighbours and her relatives heard that the Lord had magnified his mercy towards her, and they rejoiced with her.

⁵⁹ On the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child; and they would have called him Zacharias, after the name of his father. ⁶⁰ His mother answered, “Not so; but he will be called John.”

⁶¹ They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name.”

⁶² They made signs to his father, what he would have him called. ⁶³ He asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, “His name is John.” They all marvelled.

⁶⁴ His mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue freed, and he spoke, blessing God. ⁶⁵ Fear came on all who lived around them, and all these sayings were talked about throughout all the hill country of Judea.

⁶⁶ All who heard them laid them up in their heart, saying, “What then will this child be?” The hand of the Lord was with him.

Zechariah’s Prophecy

Luke 1:67-80

His father, Zacharias, was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying,

⁶⁸ “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people; ⁶⁹and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David ⁷⁰(as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets who have been from of old), ⁷¹salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all who hate us; ⁷²to show mercy towards our fathers, to remember his holy covenant, ⁷³the oath which he swore to Abraham, our father, ⁷⁴to grant to us that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, should serve him without fear, ⁷⁵in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life.

⁷⁶“And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways, ⁷⁷to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the remission of their sins, ⁷⁸because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the dawn from on high will visit us, ⁷⁹to shine on those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death; to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

⁸⁰The child was growing, and becoming strong in spirit, and was in the desert until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

Key Verses:

Luke 1:76 BSB And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for Him, ⁷⁷to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the remission of their sins, ⁷⁸because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the dawn from on high will visit us, ⁷⁹to shine on those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death; to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Isaiah 40:1-5 BSB “Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God. (2) “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her forced labor has been completed; her iniquity has been pardoned. For she has received from the hand of the LORD double for all her sins.”
(3) A voice of one calling: “Prepare the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert. (4) Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill made low; the uneven ground will become smooth, and the rugged land a plain. (5) And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all humanity together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

Malachi 3:1-5 BSB “Behold, I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me. Then the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple—the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight—see, He is coming,” says the LORD of Hosts.
(2) But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap. (3) And He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will present offerings to the LORD in righteousness. (4) Then the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will please the LORD, as in days of old and years gone by.
(5) “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud laborers of their wages and deny justice to the foreigner but do not fear Me,” says the LORD of Hosts.

Insights:

Study notes here

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

Luke 3:1-22

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, ² in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness.

³ He came into all the region around the Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for remission of sins. ⁴ As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord. Make his paths straight. ⁵ Every valley will be filled. Every mountain and hill will be brought low. The crooked will become straight, and the rough ways smooth. ⁶ All flesh will see God’s salvation.’”

⁷ He said therefore to the multitudes who went out to be baptised by him, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ Therefore produce fruits worthy of repentance, and don’t begin to say among yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father;’ for I tell you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones! ⁹ Even now the axe also lies at the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down, and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰The multitudes asked him, “What then must we do?”

¹¹He answered them, “He who has two coats, let him give to him who has none. He who has food, let him do likewise.”

¹²Tax collectors also came to be baptised, and they said to him, “Teacher, what must we do?”

¹³He said to them, “Collect no more than that which is appointed to you.”

¹⁴Soldiers also asked him, saying, “What about us? What must we do?” He said to them, “Extort from no one by violence, neither accuse anyone wrongfully. Be content with your wages.”

¹⁵As the people were in expectation, and all men reasoned in their hearts concerning John, whether perhaps he was the Christ, ¹⁶John answered them all, “I indeed baptise you with water, but he comes who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to loosen. He will baptise you in the Holy Spirit and fire, ¹⁷whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor, and will gather the wheat into his barn; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

¹⁸Then with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people, ¹⁹but Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for all the evil things which Herod had done, ²⁰added this also to them all, that he shut up John in prison.

Now when all the people were baptised, Jesus also had been baptised, and was praying. The sky was opened, ²²and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily form like a dove on him; and a voice came out of the sky, saying “You are my beloved Son. In you I am well pleased.”

Mark 1:1-11

The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

² As it is written in the prophets, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you: ³ the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord! Make his paths straight!’”

⁴ John came baptising in the wilderness and preaching the baptism of repentance for forgiveness of sins. ⁵ All the country of Judea and all those of Jerusalem went out to him. They were baptised by him in the Jordan river, confessing their sins. ⁶ John was clothed with camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist. He ate locusts and wild honey.

⁷ He preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and loosen. ⁸ I baptised you in water, but he will baptise you in the Holy Spirit.”

In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptised by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰Immediately coming up from the water, he saw the heavens parting, and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. ¹¹A voice came out of the sky, “You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Matthew 3:1-17

In those days, John the Baptiser came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, ² “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!”

³ For this is he who was spoken of by Isaiah the prophet, saying, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, make ready the way of the Lord. Make his paths straight.”

⁴ Now John himself wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵ Then people from Jerusalem, all of Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him. ⁶ They were baptised by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.

⁷ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them,

“You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ Therefore produce fruit worthy of repentance! ⁹ Don’t think to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I tell you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.

¹⁰“Even now the axe lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down, and cast into the fire. ¹¹I indeed baptise you in water for repentance, but he who comes after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to carry. He will baptise you in the Holy Spirit. ¹²His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire.”

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptised by him. ¹⁴But John would have hindered him, saying, “I need to be baptised by you, and you come to me?”

¹⁵But Jesus, answering, said to him, “Allow it now, for this is the fitting way for us to fulfil all righteousness.” Then he allowed him.

¹⁶Jesus, when he was baptised, went up directly from the water: and behold, the heavens were opened to him. He saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming on him. ¹⁷Behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Key Verses:

Key verses here

Insights:

Study notes here

The Testimony of John the Baptist

John 1:15-28

John testified about him. He cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me, for he was before me.’”

¹⁶From his fullness we all received grace upon grace. ¹⁷For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth were realised through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸No one has seen God at any time. The one and only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.

¹⁹This is John’s testimony, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”

²⁰He declared, and didn’t deny, but he declared, “I am not the Christ.”

²¹They asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.”

²²They said therefore to him, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

²³He said, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”

²⁴The ones who had been sent were from the Pharisees. ²⁵They asked him, “Why then do you baptise, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?”

²⁶John answered them, “I baptise in water, but among you stands one whom you don’t know. ²⁷He is the one who comes after me, who is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I’m not worthy to loosen.”

²⁸These things were done in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptising.

Behold, the Lamb of God

John 1:29-34

The next day, he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who is preferred before me, for he was before me.’ ³¹I didn’t know him, but for this reason I came baptising in water: that he would be revealed to Israel.”

³²John testified, saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending like a dove out of heaven, and it remained on him. ³³I didn’t recognise him, but he who sent me to baptise in water, he said to me, ‘On whomever you will see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he who baptises in the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴I have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”

John the Baptist Exalts Christ

John 3:22-36

After these things, Jesus came with his disciples into the land of Judea. He stayed there with them, and baptised. ²³John also was baptising in Enon near Salim, because there was much water there. They came, and were baptised. ²⁴For John was not yet thrown into prison. ²⁵There arose therefore a questioning on the part of John’s disciples with some Jews about purification.

²⁶They came to John, and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, the same baptises, and everyone is coming to him.”

²⁷John answered, “A man can receive nothing, unless it has been given him from heaven. ²⁸You yourselves testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before him.’ ²⁹He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. This, my joy, therefore is made full. ³⁰He must increase, but I must decrease.

³¹“He who comes from above is above all. He who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. ³²What he has seen and heard, of that he testifies; and no one receives his witness. ³³He who has received his witness has set his seal to this, that God is true. ³⁴For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for God gives the Spirit without measure. ³⁵The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand. ³⁶One who believes in the Son has eternal life, but one who disobeys the Son won’t see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

Key Verses:

He must increase, but I must decrease. (John 3:30)
One who believes in the Son has eternal life, but one who disobeys the Son won’t see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. (John 3:36)

Insights:

Study notes here

Messengers from John the Baptist

Luke 7:18-35

The disciples of John told him about all these things. ¹⁹John, calling two of his disciples to himself, sent them to Jesus, saying, “Are you the one who is coming, or should we look for another?”

²⁰When the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptiser has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you he who comes, or should we look for another?’”

²¹In that hour he cured many of diseases and plagues and evil spirits; and to many who were blind he gave sight. ²²Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John the things which you have seen and heard: that the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. ²³Blessed is he who finds no occasion for stumbling in me.”

When John’s messengers had departed, he began to tell the multitudes about John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? ²⁵But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are gorgeously dressed, and live delicately, are in kings’ courts.

²⁶“But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet. ²⁷This is he of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’

²⁸“For I tell you, among those who are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptiser, yet he who is least in God’s Kingdom is greater than he.”

²⁹When all the people and the tax collectors heard this, they declared God to be just, having been baptised with John’s baptism. ³⁰But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God, not being baptised by him themselves.

³¹“To what then should I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? ³²They are like children who sit in the marketplace, and call to one another, saying, ‘We piped to you, and you didn’t dance. We mourned, and you didn’t weep.’

³³“For John the Baptiser came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ ³⁴The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man, and a drunkard; a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ ³⁵Wisdom is justified by all her children.”

Matthew 11:1-19

When Jesus had finished directing his twelve disciples, he departed from there to teach and preach in their cities. ² Now when John heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples ³ and said to him, “Are you he who comes, or should we look for another?”

⁴ Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: ⁵ the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. ⁶ Blessed is he who finds no occasion for stumbling in me.”

As these went their way, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? ⁸ But what did you go out to see? A man in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses.

⁹ “But why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet. ¹⁰For this is he, of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’

¹¹“Most certainly I tell you, among those who are born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptiser; yet he who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he.

¹²“From the days of John the Baptiser until now, the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.

¹³“For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. ¹⁴If you are willing to receive it, this is Elijah, who is to come. ¹⁵He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

¹⁶“But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces, who call to their companions ¹⁷and say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you didn’t dance. We mourned for you, and you didn’t lament.’

¹⁸“For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ ¹⁹The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by her children.”

Key Verses:

Key verses here

Insights:

Study notes here

Herod Is Perplexed by Jesus

Luke 9:7-9

Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by him; and he was very perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead, ⁸ and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the old prophets had risen again.

⁹ Herod said, “John I beheaded, but who is this, about whom I hear such things?” He sought to see him.

The Death of John the Baptist

Mark 6:14-29

King Herod heard this, for his name had become known, and he said, “John the Baptiser has risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him.”

¹⁵But others said, “He is Elijah.” Others said, “He is a prophet, or like one of the prophets.”

¹⁶But Herod, when he heard this, said, “This is John, whom I beheaded. He has risen from the dead.”

For Herod himself had sent out and arrested John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, for he had married her. ¹⁸For John said to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”

¹⁹Herodias set herself against him, and desired to kill him, but she couldn’t, ²⁰for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and kept him safe. When he heard him, he did many things, and he heard him gladly.

²¹Then a convenient day came, that Herod on his birthday made a supper for his nobles, the high officers, and the chief men of Galilee. ²²When the daughter of Herodias herself came in and danced, she pleased Herod and those sitting with him. The king said to the young lady, “Ask me whatever you want, and I will give it to you.”

²³He swore to her, “Whatever you shall ask of me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.”

²⁴She went out, and said to her mother, “What shall I ask?” She said, “The head of John the Baptiser.”

²⁵She came in immediately with haste to the king, and asked, “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptiser on a platter.”

²⁶The king was exceedingly sorry, but for the sake of his oaths, and of his dinner guests, he didn’t wish to refuse her. ²⁷Immediately the king sent out a soldier of his guard, and commanded to bring John’s head, and he went and beheaded him in the prison, ²⁸and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the young lady; and the young lady gave it to her mother.

²⁹When his disciples heard this, they came and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb.

Matthew 14:1-12

At that time, Herod the tetrarch heard the report concerning Jesus, ² and said to his servants, “This is John the Baptiser. He is risen from the dead. That is why these powers work in him.”

For Herod had laid hold of John, and bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. ⁴ For John said to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.”

⁵ When he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet. ⁶ But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced among them and pleased Herod. ⁷ Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatever she should ask.

⁸ She, being prompted by her mother, said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptiser.”

⁹ The king was grieved, but for the sake of his oaths, and of those who sat at the table with him, he commanded it to be given, ¹⁰and he sent and beheaded John in the prison. ¹¹His head was brought on a platter, and given to the young lady: and she brought it to her mother.

¹²His disciples came, and took the body, and buried it; and they went and told Jesus.