as gods, although they differ one from another in the peculiar
worship they severally pay to them. And certainly men they are
entirely of vain and foolish minds, who have thus accustomed
themselves from the beginning to have such bad notions concerning
their gods, and could not think of imitating that decent form of
Divine worship which we made use of, though, when they saw our
institutions approved of by many others, they could not but envy
us on that account; for some of them have proceeded to that
degree of folly and meanness in their conduct, as not to scruple
to contradict their own ancient records, nay, to contradict
themselves also in their writings, and yet were so blinded by
their passions as not to discern it.

26. And now I will turn my discourse to one of their principal
writers, whom I have a little before made use of as a witness to
our antiquity; I mean Manetho. (22) He promised to interpret the
Egyptian history out of their sacred writings, and premised this:
that "our people had come into Egypt, many ten thousands in
number, and subdued its inhabitants;" and when he had further
confessed that "we went out of that country afterward, and
settled in that country which is now called Judea, and there
built Jerusalem and its temple." Now thus far he followed his
ancient records; but after this he permits himself, in order to
appear to have written what rumors and reports passed abroad
about the Jews, and introduces incredible narrations, as if he
would have the Egyptian multitude, that had the leprosy and other
distempers, to have been mixed with us, as he says they were, and
that they were condemned to fly out of Egypt together; for he
mentions Amenophis, a fictitious king's name, though on that
account he durst not set down the number of years of his reign,