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Καὶ Σίβυλλα δὲ καὶ Ὑστάσπης γενήσεσθαι τῶν φθαρτῶν ἀνάλωσιν διὰ πυρὸς ἔφασαν. Οἱ λεγόμενοι δὲ Στωϊκοὶ φιλόσοφοι καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν θεὸν εἰς πῦρ ἀναλύεσθαι δογματίζουσι καὶ αὖ πάλιν κατὰ μεταβολὴν τὸν κόσμον γενέσθαι λέγουσιν· ἡμεῖς δὲ κρεῖττόν τι τῶν μεταβαλλομένων νοοῦμεν τὸν πάντων ποιητὴν θεόν. Εἰ οὖν καὶ ὁμοίως τινὰ τοῖς παρ ὑμῖν τιμωμένοις ποιηταῖς καὶ φιλοσόφοις λέγομεν, ἔνια δὲ καὶ μειζόνως καὶ θείως καὶ μόνοι μετ ἀποδείξεως, τί παρὰ πάντας ἀδίκως μισούμεθα; Τῷ γὰρ λέγειν ἡμᾶς ὑπὸ θεοῦ πάντα κεκοσμῆσθαι καὶ γεγενῆσθαι Πλάτωνος δόξομεν λέγειν δόγμα· τᾷ δὲ ἐκπύρωσιν γενέσθαι Στωϊκῶν· τῷ δὲ κολάζεσθαι ἐν αἰσθήσει καὶ μετὰ θάνατον οὔσας τὰς τῶν ἀδίκων ψυχάς, τὰς δὲ τῶν σπουδαίων ἀπηλλαγμένας τῶν τιμωριῶν εὖ διάγειν, ποιηταῖς καὶ φιλοσόφοις τὰ αὐτὰ λέγειν δόξομεν· τᾷ δὲ καὶ μὴ δεῖν χειρῶν ἀνθρωπίνων ἔργοις προσκυνεῖν Μενάνδρῳ τῷ κωμικῷ καὶ τοῖς ταῦτα φήσασι ταὐτὰ φράζομεν· μείζονα γὰρ τὸν δημιουργὸν τοῦ σκευαζομένου ἀπεφήναντο
西比拉與許斯塔斯佩斯都曾宣稱，必有一場藉火而來、對可朽之物的毀滅。那些稱為斯多亞派的哲學家，甚至教導說連神自己也要分解歸火，又說世界要藉一種變化的過程而再生；但我們所領會的那造萬有的神，乃比一切會變化的事物更為超越。那麼，倘若我們在某些方面所說的，與你們所尊崇的詩人和哲學家相似，在某些方面卻說得更大、更神聖、且惟獨我們有憑據，為何我們竟過於眾人、無故被恨惡呢？因為我們說萬有都是神所安排、所造的，便似乎在說柏拉圖的學說；說將有大火之劫，便似乎在說斯多亞派的；說不義之人的魂在死後仍存知覺、且受刑，而善人的魂則脫離刑罰、得享安樂，便似乎在說與詩人和哲學家相同的話；說不當敬拜人手所造之物，便是說與喜劇詩人米南德、並那說這些話之人相同的話；因為他們宣告，工匠比所造之物更大。
Both the Sibyl and Hystaspes declared that there would be a destruction of corruptible things by fire. And the philosophers called Stoics teach that even God himself is resolved into fire, and again say that the world comes into being by a process of change; but we conceive of God, the Maker of all, as something better than the things that change. If, then, we say in some respects things similar to those held in honor among you—the poets and philosophers—and in some respects say things greater and divine, and we alone with proof, why are we unjustly hated above all others? For in saying that all things were ordered and made by God, we shall seem to be uttering the doctrine of Plato; and in saying that there will be a conflagration, that of the Stoics; and in saying that the souls of the unjust, even after death, are in a state of perception and are punished, while those of the worthy, freed from punishments, fare well, we shall seem to be saying the same as the poets and philosophers; and in saying that one ought not to worship the works of men's hands, we say the same as Menander the comic poet and those who said these things; for they declared the craftsman to be greater than the thing fashioned.