Saint John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor

2and lifting up his eyes, he saw Israel dwelling in tents by their tribes. And with the Spirit of God rushing into him, 3taking up his parable, he said: “Balaam, the son of Beor, the man whose eye has been obstructed, 4the hearer of the sermon of God, he who has gazed upon a vision of the Almighty, he who falls down and so his eyes are opened, has declared: 5‘How beautiful are your tabernacles, O Jacob, and your tents, O Israel! 6They are like forested valleys, like gardens irrigated next to rivers, like tabernacles which the Lord has fixed, like cedars close to waters. 7Water shall flow from his jar, and his offspring shall be amid many waters, because Agag, his king, shall be taken, and his kingdom shall be removed.

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15Therefore, taking up his parable, he again spoke: “Balaam the son of Beor, the man whose eye has been obstructed, 16the hearer of the sermon of God, he who knows the doctrine of the Most High, and who sees the visions of the Almighty, who, falling down, has his eyes opened, has declared: 17I shall see him, but not presently. I shall gaze upon him, but not soon. A star shall rise out of Jacob, and a rod shall spring up from Israel. And he shall strike down the commanders of Moab, and he shall devastate all the sons of Seth.

4May all those who act unjustly over nothing be confounded. O Lord, demonstrate your ways to me, and teach me your paths.

5Direct me in your truth, and teach me. For you are God, my Savior, and I remain with you all day long.

6O Lord, remember your compassion and your mercies, which are from ages past.

7Do not remember the offenses of my youth and my ignorances. Remember me according to your mercy, because of your goodness, O Lord.

8The Lord is sweet and righteous. Because of this, he will grant a law to those who fall short in the way.

9He will direct the mild in judgment. He will teach the meek his ways.

23And when he had arrived at the temple, as he was teaching, the leaders of the priests and the elders of the people approached him, saying: “By what authority do you do these things? And who has given this authority to you?” 24In response, Jesus said to them: “I also will question you with one word: if you tell me this, I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25The baptism of John, where was it from? Was it from heaven, or from men?” But they thought within themselves, saying: 26“If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men,’ we have the crowd to fear, for they all hold John to be a prophet.” 27And so, they answered Jesus by saying, “We do not know.” So he also said to them: “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.