Prophets whose lives were worthy of the Spirit
Among the prophets of the Jews, some were wise before they received prophecy and divine possession; others became wise when their minds were enlightened by the prophecy itself. They were chosen by providence to be entrusted with the divine Spirit and the words that come from him because of their way of life: a life hard to imitate, exceedingly strenuous and free, and wholly undaunted in the face of death and danger. For reason, too, shows that the prophets of the God who is over all must be such men. They made the hardihood of Antisthenes, Crates and Diogenes look like a game. At any rate, for the sake of truth and for rebuking sinners freely, “they were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they died by the sword; for they went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, ill-treated, wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and the holes of the earth, men of whom the world on earth was not worthy” (Hebrews 11:37–38). They always fixed their gaze on God and on the invisible things of God, which are not seen by the senses and are for that reason eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18).
The life of each of the prophets has been recorded. For the present it is enough to set before you the life of Moses (for prophecies of his, too, are handed down, written in the law); that of Jeremiah, related in the prophecy that bears his name; and that of Isaiah, who, going beyond every discipline, walked “naked and barefoot” for three years (Isaiah 20:2–3). Look also at the robust life of the boys, Daniel and his companions, when you have read that they drank water and that their food was pulse, since they abstained from living things (Daniel 1:12–16). And if you can, consider also what came before them: Noah, who prophesied (Genesis 9:25–27); Isaac, who prayed prophetically over his son (Genesis 27:27–29); and Jacob, who said to each of the twelve, “Come, that I may tell you what will happen in the last days” (Genesis 49:1). These men, and countless others who prophesied for God, also foretold what concerns Jesus the Christ.
That is why we hold in no account the things foretold by the Pythia, or the priestesses of Dodona, or the Clarian, or at Branchidae, or at the shrine of Ammon, or by countless other so-called oracle-givers. But what was prophesied by those in Judaea fills us with awe, for we see that their robust, strenuous and dignified life was worthy of the Spirit of God, who prophesies in a new way, nothing like the divinations that come from demons.
Greek
Τῶν δ᾿ ἐν Ἰουδαίοις προφητῶν οἱ μὲν πρὸ τῆς προφητείας καὶ τῆς θείας κατακωχῆς ἦσαν σοφοὶ, οἱ δ᾿ ἀπ᾿ αὐτῆς τῆς προφητείας φωτισθέντες τὸν νοῦν τοιοῦτοι γεγόνασιν, αἱρεθέντες ὑπὸ τῆς προνοίας εἰς τὸ πιστευθῆναι τὸ θεῖον πνεῦμα καὶ τοὺς ἀπὸ τούτου λόγους διὰ τὸ τοῦ βίου δυσμίμητον καὶ σφόδρα εὔτονον καὶ ἐλευθέριον καὶ πάντῃ πρὸς θάνατον καὶ κινδύνους ἀκατάπληκτον. τοιούτους γὰρ καὶ ὁ λόγος αἱρεῖ δεῖν εἶναι τοὺς τοῦ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεοῦ προφήτας. οἵτινες παίγνιον ἀπέφηναν τὴν Ἀντισθένους καὶ Κράτητος καὶ Διογένους εὐτονίαν. δι᾿ ἀλήθειαν γοῦν καὶ τὸ ἐλευθερίως ἐλέγχειν τοὺς ἁμαρτάνοντας „ἐλιθάσθησαν, ἐπρίσθησαν, ἐπειράσθησαν, ἐν φόνῳ μαχαίρας ἀπέθανον· περιῆλθον γὰρ ἐν μηλωταῖς, ἐν αἰγείοις δέρμασιν, ὑστερούμενοι, κακουχούμενοι, ἐν ἐρημίαις πλανώμενοι καὶ ὄρεσι καὶ σπηλαίοις καὶ ταῖς ὀπαῖς τῆς γῆς, ὧν οὐκ ην ἄξιος ὁ ἐπὶ γῆς κόσμος“· ἀεὶ ἐνορῶντες τῷ θεῷ καὶ τοῖς ἀοράτοις τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ μὴ βλεπομένοις αἰσθητῶς καὶ διὰ τοῦτο οὖσιν αἰωνίοις. ὁ δὲ βίος ἑκάστου τῶν προφητῶν ἀναγέγραπται· ἀρκεῖ δὲ ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος παραθέσθαι τὸν Μωϋσέως βίον (καὶ γὰρ αὐτοῦ φέρονται προφητεῖαι, ἀναγεγραμμέναι ἐν τῷ νόμῳ) καὶ τὸν Ἱερεμἰου, φερόμενον ἐν τῇ ὁμωνύμῳ αὐτοῦ προφητείᾳ, καὶ τὸν Ἡσαΐου, ὃς ἐπορεύθη ὑπερτείνων πᾶσαν ἄσκησιν „γυμνὸς καὶ ἀνυπόδετος“ ἔτεσι τρισίν. ἴδε δὲ καὶ παιδαρίων, τοῦ Δανιὴλ καὶ τῶν σὺν αὐτῷ, τὸν ἐῤῥωμένον βίον, ἀναγνοὺς τὴν ὑδροποσίαν αὐτῶν καὶ ὅτι ἡ τροφὴ ἦν αὐτοῖς ὄσπριον, ἐμψύχων ἀπεχομένοις. εἰ δὲ δύνασαι, καὶ τὰ πρὸ τούτων θέασαι, Νῶε προφητεύσαντος καὶ Ἰσαὰκ τῷ υἱῷ ἐπευξαμένου προφητικῶς καὶ τοῦ Ἰακὼβ λέγοντος ἑκάστῳ τῶν δώδεκα· „δεῦτε, ἵνα ἀναγγείλω ὑμῖν, τί ἔσται ἐπ᾿ ἐσχάτων τῶν ἡμερῶν.“ οὗτοι δὴ καὶ ἄλλοι μυρίοι προφητεύσαντες τῷ θεῷ καὶ τὰ περὶ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ Χριστοῦ προεῖπον. διόπερ ἐν οὐδενὶ μὲν τιθέμεθα λόγῳ τὰ ὑπὸ τῆς Πυθίας ἢ Δωδωνίδων ἢ Κλαρίου ἢ ἐν Βραγχίδαις ἢ ἐν Ἄμμωνος ἢ ὑπὸ μυρίων ἄλλων λεγομένων θεοπρόπων προειρημένα· τὰ δ᾿ ὑπὸ τῶν ἐν Ἰουδαίᾳ προφητευσάντων τεθήπαμεν, ὁρῶντες ὅτι ἄξιος ἦν αὐτῶν ὁ ἐῤῥωμένος καὶ εὔτονος καὶ σεμνὸς βίος πνεύματος θεοῦ, τρόπῳ προφητεύοντος καινῷ καὶ οὐδὲν ἔχοντι παραπλήσιον ταῖς ἀπὸ δαιμόνων μαντείαις.