Justin Martyr, First Apology 31
Certain men among the Jews became prophets of God, and through them the prophetic Spirit announced beforehand the things that were going to happen before they came to pass. The kings who ruled in Judea at various times, when these prophecies were being spoken, acquired the prophetic books as they were written in the prophets' own Hebrew tongue and preserved them.
When Ptolemy, the king of Egypt, was establishing a library and attempting to gather the writings of all mankind, he learned of these prophecies and sent a request to Herod, who was then king of the Jews, asking that the prophetic books be sent to him. King Herod dispatched them, written in the aforementioned Hebrew language. But since the contents were unknown to the Egyptians, Ptolemy asked him again, this time to send men who could translate the books into Greek. Once this was done, the books remained in Egypt until the present day, and they are now found everywhere among all Jews.
Yet even while reading them, the Jews do not understand what is said; instead they regard us as enemies and adversaries, killing and punishing us whenever they are able, as you yourselves can be persuaded. For even in the recent Jewish war, Barchochebas, the leader of the Jewish revolt, ordered that Christians alone be seized for severe punishments unless they denied Jesus the Christ and blasphemed.
In the books of the prophets we find it proclaimed and foretold that Christ would come, would be born of a virgin, would grow to manhood and heal every disease and every infirmity, and would raise the dead; that he would be envied and unrecognized and crucified, would die and be raised, and would ascend into the heavens; that he is the Son of God and is called so; that certain men would be sent by him to every nation of humanity to proclaim these things; and that the peoples from the nations would believe in him more readily.
These things were prophesied before he appeared — at one time five thousand years beforehand, at another three thousand, at another two thousand, and again one thousand, and yet again eight hundred years — for according to the succession of generations, different prophets arose at different times.
Greek
Ἄνθρωποι οὖν τινες ἐν Ἰουδαίοις γεγένηνται θεοῦ προφῆται, δι᾿ ὧν τὸ προφητικὸν πνεῦμα προεκήρυξε τὰ γενήσεσθαι μέλλοντα πρὶν ἢ γενέσθαι· καὶ τούτων οἱ ἐν Ἰουδαίοις κατὰ καιροὺς γενόμενοι βασιλεῖς τὰς προφητείας, ὡς ἐλέχθησαν ὅτε προεφητεύοντο, τῇ ἰδίᾳ αὐτῶν ἑβραΐδι φωνῇ ἐν βιβλίοις ὑπ᾿ αὐτῶν τῶν προφητῶν συντεταγμένας κτώμενοι περιεῖπον. Ὅτε δὲ Πτολεμαῖος, ὁ Αἰγυπτίων βασιλεύς, βιβλιοθήκην κατεσκεύαζε καὶ τὰ πάντων ἀνθρώπων συγγράμματα συνάγειν ἐπειράθη, πυθόμενος καὶ περὶ τῶν προφητειῶν τούτων, προσέπεμψε τῷ τῶν Ἰουδαίων τότε βασιλεύοντι Ἡρώδῃ ἀξιῶν διαπεμφθῆναι αὐτῷ τὰς βίβλους τῶν προφητειῶν. Καὶ ὁ μὲν βασιλεὺς Ἡρώδης τῇ προειρημένῃ ἑβραΐδι αὐτῶν φωνῇ γεγραμμένας διεπέμψατο. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ οὐκ ἦν γνώριμα τὰ ἐν αὐταῖς γεγραμμένα τοῖς Αἰγυπτίοις, πάλιν αὐτὸν ἠξίωσε πέμψας τοὺς μεταβαλοῦντας αὐτὰς εἰς τὴν ἑλλάδα φωνὴν ἀθρώπους ἀποστεῖλαι. Καὶ τούτου γενομένου ἔμειναν αἱ βίβλοι καὶ παρ᾿ Αἰγυπτίοις μέχρι τοῦ δεῦρο, καὶ πανταχοῦ παρὰ πᾶσίν εἰσιν Ἰουδαίοις, οἳ καὶ ἀναγινώσκοντες οὐ συνιᾶσι τὰ εἰρημένα, ἀλλ᾿ ἐχθροὺς ἡμᾶς καὶ πολεμίους ἡγοῦνται, ὁμοίως ὑμῖν ἀναιροῦντες καὶ κολάζοντες ἡμᾶς ὁπόταν δύνωνται, ὡς καὶ πεισθῆναι δύνασθε. Καὶ γὰρ ἐν τῷ νῦν γεγενημένῳ ἰουδαϊκῷ πολέμῳ Βαρχωχέβας, ὁ τῆς Ἰουδαίων ἀποστάσεως ἀρχηγέτης, Χριστιανοὺς μόνους εἰς τιμωρίας δεινάς, εἰ μὴ ἀρνοῖντο Ἰησοῦν τὸν Χριστὸν καὶ βλασφημοῖεν, ἐκέλευεν ἀπάγεσθαι. Ἐν δὴ ταῖς τῶν προφητῶν βίβλοις εὕρομεν προκηρυσσόμενον παραγινόμενον, γεννώμενον διὰ παρθένου, καὶ ἀνδρούμενον καὶ θεραπεύοντα πᾶσαν νόσον καὶ πᾶσαν μαλακίαν καὶ νεκροὺς ἀνεγείροντα, καὶ φθονούμενον καὶ ἀγνοούμενον καὶ σταυρούμενον Ἰησοῦν τὸν ἡμέτερον Χριστόν, καὶ ἀποθνήσκοντα καὶ ἀνεγειρόμενον καὶ εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀνερχόμενον, καὶ υἱὸν θεοῦ ὄντα καὶ κεκλημένον, καί τινας πεμπομένους ὑπ᾿ αὐτοῦ εἰς πᾶν γένος ἀνθρώπων κηρύξοντας ταῦτα, καὶ τοὺς ἐξ ἐθνῶν ἀνθρώπους μᾶλλον αὐτᾷ πιστεύειν. Προεφητεύθη δέ, πρὶν ἢ φανῆναι αὐτόν, ἔτεσι ποτὲ μὲν πεντακισχιλίοις, ποτὲ δὲ τρισχιλίοις, ποτὲ δὲ δισχιλίοις, καὶ πάλιν χιλίοις καὶ ἄλλοτε ὀκτακοσίοις· κατὰ γὰρ τὰς διαδοχὰς τῶν γενῶν ἕτεροι καὶ ἕτεροι ἐγένοντο προφῆται.