How John the Baptist Was Killed^(A)

14 At that time Herod, the ·ruler of Galilee [^Ltetrarch; see Luke 3:1], heard the reports about Jesus. ² So he said to his servants, “·Jesus [^LThis] is John the Baptist, who has risen from the dead. That is why ·he can work these miracles [^Lmiraculous powers are at work in him].”

³ ·Sometime before this, [^LFor] Herod had arrested John, ·tied him up [chained/bound him], and put him into prison. Herod did this because of Herodias, who had been the wife of Philip, Herod’s brother. ⁴ [^LFor] John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to ·be married to Herodias [have her].” ⁵ Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the ·people [crowd], because they ·believed John was [regarded John as] a prophet.

⁶ On Herod’s birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced for Herod and his guests, and she [greatly] pleased him. ⁷ So he ·promised [announced] with ·an oath [a vow] to give her anything she ·wanted [asked]. ⁸ ·Herodias told her daughter what to ask for, so [At her mother’s urging/prompting] she said to Herod, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” ⁹ Although King Herod was very ·sad [sorry; grieved; distressed], he had made a ·promise [vow; oath], and his dinner guests had heard him. So Herod ·ordered [commanded] that what she asked for be done. ¹⁰ He sent soldiers to the prison to cut off John’s head. ¹¹ And they brought it on a platter and gave it to the girl, and she took it to her mother. ¹² John’s ·followers [disciples] came and got his ·body [corpse] and buried it. Then they went and ·told [reported it to] Jesus.

How John the Baptist Was Killed^(A)

¹⁴ King Herod [^CAntipas; a son of Herod the Great; Luke 3:1] heard about Jesus, because he was now well known. Some people said,^[a] “He is John the Baptist, who has risen from the dead. That is why ·he can work these miracles [^Lmiraculous powers are at work in him].”

¹⁵ Others said, “He is Elijah [^Ca great OT prophet (1 Kin. 17), who was expected to return in the end times (Mal. 4:5)].”

Other people said, “Jesus is a prophet, like the prophets who lived long ago.”

¹⁶ When Herod heard this, he said, “I killed John by cutting off his head. Now he has risen from the dead!”

¹⁷ Herod himself had ·ordered [sent] his soldiers to arrest John and ·put [bound; chained] him in prison ·in order to please [^Lbecause of] his wife, Herodias. She had been the wife of Philip, Herod’s brother, but then Herod had married her. ¹⁸ John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to ·be married to [have] your brother’s wife.” ¹⁹ So Herodias ·hated [had a grudge against] John and wanted to kill him. But she couldn’t, ²⁰ because Herod was afraid of John and protected him. He knew John was a ·good [righteous] and holy man. Also, though John’s preaching always ·bothered [disturbed; puzzled; perplexed] him, he enjoyed listening to John.

²¹ Then the ·perfect [opportune] time came for Herodias to cause John’s death. On Herod’s birthday, he gave a ·dinner party [banquet] for ·the most important government leaders [his nobles/high officials], the commanders of his army, and ·the most important people [leaders] in Galilee. ²² When the daughter of Herodias^[b] came in and danced, she pleased Herod and the people eating with him.

So King Herod said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I will give it to you.” ²³ He ·promised [swore/vowed to] her, “Anything you ask for I will give to you—up to half of my kingdom.”

²⁴ The girl went [out] to her mother and asked, “What should I ask for?”

Her mother answered, “Ask for the head of John the Baptist.”

²⁵ At once the girl ·went back [hurried back in] to the king and said to him, “I want [you to give me] the head of John the Baptist right now on a platter.”

²⁶ Although the king was very ·sad [sorry; grieved; distressed], he had made a promise, and his dinner guests had heard it. So he did not want to refuse what she asked. ²⁷ Immediately the king sent ·a soldier [an executioner] to bring John’s head. The ·soldier [executioner] went and cut off John’s head in the prison ²⁸ and brought it back on a platter. He gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. ²⁹ When John’s ·followers [disciples] heard this, they came and got John’s ·body [corpse] and put it in a tomb.

¹⁹ But John ·spoke against [criticized; rebuked] Herod [^CAntipas], the ·governor [^Ltetrarch; 3:1], ·because of his sin with [^Lconcerning] Herodias, the wife of Herod’s brother [^CHerod had divorced his wife and illicitly married the wife of his brother Philip; Lev. 18:16], and because of the many other evil things Herod did. ²⁰ So Herod ·did something even worse [^Ladded this to all his sins]: He ·put [locked; shut up] John in prison.

Herod Is Confused About Jesus^(A)

⁷ [^LNow; But] Herod, the ·governor [^Ltetrarch; ^CHerod Antipas; 3:1], heard about all the things that were happening and was ·confused [puzzled; perplexed], because some people said, “·John the Baptist [^LJohn] has risen from the dead.” ⁸ Others said, “Elijah has ·come to us [reappeared; ^Lappeared; ^Csome Jews expected Elijah to return in the end times; Mal. 4:5].” And still others said, “One of the prophets who lived long ago has ·risen from the dead [or appeared once again; ^Larisen].” ⁹ Herod said, “I ·cut off John’s head [had John beheaded], so who is this man I hear such things about?” And Herod kept trying to see Jesus.