-- Saint Romanos the Melodist

For Balaam laid before us precisely

the meaning of the words he spoke in prophecy,

when he said that a Star would dawn,6

a Star that quenches all prophecies and auguries;

a Star that resolves the parables of the wise,

and their sayings and their riddles,

a Star far more brilliant than the star

which has appeared, for he is the maker of all the stars,

of whom it was written of old, ‘From Jacob, there dawns

a little Child, God before the ages.’”

-- Saint Romanos the Melodist