This apocryphal text is attributed in Greek sources to St. Mark the Evangelist, and details the life of St. John the Baptist, from his birth and divine calling to his ministry, confrontation with king Herod, the baptism of Christ, imprisonment, and eventual beheading. It recounts the additional details outside of the events of the Gospels, detailing those things surrounding his death, including his prophetic words and the circumstances leading to his execution.