24. So the girl went out and asked her mother, “What shall I ask for?”“The head of John the Baptist,” she answered.
25. The girl hurried back at once to the king and demanded, “I want you to give me here and now the head of John the Baptist on a dish!”
26. This made the king very sad, but he could not refuse her because of the vows he had made in front of all his guests.
27. So he sent off a guard at once with orders to bring John's head. The guard left, went to the prison, and cut John's head off;
28. then he brought it on a dish and gave it to the girl, who gave it to her mother.