The wise way of life of the Jews
It is clear that in these words he accuses the Jews of falsely supposing that they are a chosen portion of the God over all, above all the nations. He charges them, at any rate, with boasting, as people who glory in the great God and yet do not know him, but were led astray by the sorcery of Moses and deceived by him, and became his disciples to no good end.
In part, then, we have already spoken in earlier passages of the venerable and exceptional commonwealth of the Jews, at the time when there stood among them the symbol of the city of God, and of his temple, and of the priestly worship at the temple and the altar. But if anyone fixed his mind on the intention of the lawgiver and on the commonwealth he set up, and examined their life and compared it with the present conduct of the other nations, he would admire no people more, as people who, so far as human beings can, had removed everything that is of no use to the human race and accepted only what is of real use. That is why there were among them no athletic contests, no stage contests, no horse races, and no women selling the bloom of their youth to anyone who wished to sow in vain and to outrage the nature of human seed.
What a thing it was among them to be taught, from their earliest years, to rise above the whole of nature that the senses perceive and never to think that God has his seat anywhere in it, but to seek him above, beyond all bodies! How great a thing that, almost as soon as their reason came into being and reached completion, they were taught the immortality of the soul, the places of judgment beneath the earth, and the honours of those who have lived well! These things were still proclaimed in a more mythical form to children and to those who think as children do. But for those who were already seeking the meaning and wished to advance in it, what had until then been myths, if I may call them so, were transformed into the truth hidden within them.
And I think that, in a manner worthy of their being called the portion of God (Deuteronomy 32:9), they despised all divination, as something that bewitches people to no purpose and that comes from wicked demons rather than from any better nature; and they sought knowledge of what is to come in souls that, because of their utmost purity, had received the Spirit of the God over all.
Greek
Δῆλον δ᾿ ὅτι ἐν τούτοις ἐγκαλεῖ Ἰουδαίοις ὡς ψευδῶς ὑπολαμβάνουσιν ἑαυτοὺς εἶναι ἐκλεκτὴν μερίδα παρὰ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη τοῦ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεοῦ. καὶ ἀλαζονείας γοῦν αὐτῶν κατηγορεῖ ὡς αὐχούντων μὲν τὸν μέγαν θεὸν, οὐκ εἰδότων δ᾿ αὐτὸν ἀλλ᾿ ὑπαχθέντων τῇ Μωϋσέως γοητείᾳ καὶ ψευσθέντων ὑπ᾿ αὐτοῦ, οὐκ ἐπ᾿ ἀγαθῷ τέλει μαθητευθέντων αὐτῷ. ἀπὸ μέρους μὲν οὖν ἡμῖν ἐν τοῖς πρὸ τούτων λέλεκται τὰ τῆς σεμνῆς καὶ ἐξαιρέτου Ἰουδαίων πολιτείας, ἡνίκα αὐτοῖς συνειστήκει τὸ σύμβολον τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ πόλεως καὶ τοῦ ναοῦ αὐτοῦ καὶ τῆς παρ᾿ αὐτῷ καὶ τῷ θυσιαστηρίῳ ἱερατικῆς λατρείας· εἰ δέ τις ἐπερείσας τὴν διάνοιαν τῷ τοῦ νομοθέτου βουλήματι καὶ τῇ κατ᾿ αὐτὸν πολιτείᾳ ἐξετάζων τὰ κατ᾿ αὐτοὺς συγκρίνοι τῇ νῦν ἀγωγῇ τῶν λοιπῶν ἐθνῶν, οὐδένας μᾶλλον ἂν θαυμάσαι ὡς ἐν ἀνθρώποις πάντα μὲν τὰ μὴ χρήσιμα τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων περιῃρημένους μόνα δὲ τὰ εὔχρηστα παραδεξαμένους. διὸ οὐδ᾿ ἀγῶνες ἦσαν γυμνικοὶ ἢ θυμελικοὶ ἢ ἱππικοὶ παρ᾿ αὐτοῖς, οὐδὲ γυναῖκες πιπράσκουσαι τὴν ὥραν παντὶ τῷ βουλομένῳ σπείρειν κενῶς καὶ ἐνυβρίζειν τῇ φύσει τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων σπερμάτων. ὁποῖον δ᾿ ἦν παρ᾿ αὐτοῖς τὸ ἐξ ἔτι ἁπαλῶν ὀνύχων διδάσκεσθαι ὑπεραναβαίνειν μὲν πᾶσαν τὴν αἰσθητὴν φύσιν καὶ μηδαμοῦ αὐτῆς νομίζειν ἱδρῦσθαι τὸν θεὸν, ἄνω δὲ καὶ ὑπὲρ τὰ σώματα ζητεῖν αὐτόν; πηλίκον δὲ τὸ σχεδὸν ἅμα γενέσει καὶ συμπληρώσει τοῦ λόγου διδάσκεσθαι αὐτοὺς τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς ἀθανασίαν καὶ τὰ ὑπὸ γῆν δικαιωτήρια καὶ τὰς τιμὰς τῶν καλῶς βεβιωκότων; ἅπερ ἔτι μυθικώτερον μὲν παισὶ καὶ τὰ παίδων φρονοῦσιν αὐτοῖς ἐκηρύσσετο, ἤδη δὲ ζητοῦσι τὸν λόγον καὶ βουλομένοις ἐν αὐτῷ προκόπτειν οἱ τέως μῦθοι, ἵν᾿ οὕτως ὀνομάσω. μετεμορφοῦντο εἰς τὴν ἐναποκεκρυμμένην αὐτοῖς ἀλήθειαν. ἐγὼ δὲ νομίζω ἀξίως τοῦ χρηματίζειν αὐτοὺς μερίδα θεοῦ πάσης μὲν μαντείας ὡς μάτην κηλούσης τοὺς ἀνθρώπους καταπεφρονηκέναι, καὶ ἀπὸ δαιμόνων μοχθηρῶν μᾶλλον ἢ ἀπό τινος κρείττονος φύσεως ἐρχομένης. ζητεῖν δὲ τὴν τῶν μελλόντων γνῶσιν ἐν ψυχαῖς. δι᾿ ἄκραν καθαρότητα παραδεξαμέναις πνεῦμα τοῦ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεοῦ.