23 I swear that I will give you as much as half of my kingdom, if you want it.”
24 The girl left and asked her mother, “What do you think I should ask for?”Her mother answered, “The head of John the Baptist!”
25 The girl hurried back and told Herod, “Here and now on a serving plate I want the head of John the Baptist!”
26 Herod was very sorry for what he had said. But he did not want to break the promise he had made in front of his guests.
27 At once he ordered a guard to cut off John's head there in prison.
28 The guard put the head on a serving plate and took it to the girl. Then she gave it to her mother.
29 When John's followers learned that he had been killed, they took his body and put it in a tomb.