Ephrem the Syrian

the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they took as wives whomever they chose.

“Because the sons of Seth were going into the daughters of Cain, they turned away from their first wives whom they had previously taken.”

Two of every kind of bird and animal and crawling creature will come to you to be kept alive.

“On that same day elephants came from the east, apes and peacocks approached from the south, other animals gathered from the west, and still others hastened to come from the north. Lions came from the jungles, and wild beasts arrived from their lairs.”

For seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living…

“God granted one hundred years while the ark was being made to that generation, and still they did not repent. God summoned beasts that they had never seen and still they showed no remorse.”

Bring out all the living creatures that are with you—birds, livestock, and everything that crawls upon the ground—so that they can spread out over the earth and be fruitful and…

“Those whom he had brought in "one by one" in order to maintain chastity on the ark, he now brought out "two by two" so that they might "be fruitful and multiply in creation."”

As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall never cease.”

“And because there was neither planting nor harvest during that year and the seasonal cycles had been disturbed, God restored to the earth that which had been taken away in his anger.”

and she said to Abraham, “Expel the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac!”

“Then Sarah, who showed no envy in any matter that concerned herself, became envious in this matter concerning her son. She was not envious of Hagar whom she had given to her husband.”

Now, therefore, swear to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or descendants.

“After these things, Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, for they saw that God was with him and had helped him in the wars of the kings and had also promised him the land of the Canaanites.”

And Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah and took Rebekah as his wife. And Isaac loved her and was comforted after his mother’s death.

“By the joy [which he received] from Rebekah, who came three years later, Isaac was comforted from the mourning of his mother with which he had been shrouded for three years.”

Then Jacob gave some bread and lentil stew to Esau, who ate and drank and then got up and went away. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

“Jacob saw that the right of the firstborn was despised by Esau, and he contrived to take it from him, trusting in God who had said, "The elder shall serve the younger."”

When Esau heard his father’s words, he let out a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me too, O my father!”

“And Esau cried out and wailed bitterly, not because he lost his spiritual blessings but because he was now deprived of the bountiful produce of the blessed earth.”

So Rachel gave Jacob her servant Bilhah as a wife, and he slept with her,

“So, lest she nag him, asking him every day for children, Jacob, who was sent from his parents to take a daughter of Laban, agreed to take the foreign woman.”

Now during the wheat harvest, Reuben went out and found some mandrakes in the field.

“Some say that the mandrake is a plant whose fruit resembles apples, which have a scent and are edible. So by means of these mandrakes, with cheerfulness seasoned with faith, Leah made Jacob take her that night.”

When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute because she had covered her face.

“While Tamar was making supplication to God for these things, behold, Judah came out and saw her. The prayer of Tamar inclined him, contrary to his usual habit, [to go] to a harlot. When she saw him, she was veiled, for she was afraid.”

Now, therefore, Pharaoh should look for a discerning and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt.

“When Joseph said, "Let Pharaoh select a man," he spoke about himself. Joseph, out of modesty, did not say it openly in his own name, but he would not give it to another, for he knew that no one else would be able to make…”

We are all sons of one man. Your servants are honest men, not spies.”

“They answered and said, "We do not even know the Egyptian language so that, by speaking Egyptian, we might escape notice and deceive the Egyptians. That we dwell in the land of Canaan you can learn from our offering.”

They were seated before Joseph in order by age, from the firstborn to the youngest, and the men looked at one another in astonishment.

“Joseph began to make his brothers sit down as if around his [divining] cup; the elder according to his status as elder and the youngest according to his youth.”

“What can we say to my lord?” Judah replied. “How can we plead? How can we justify ourselves? God has exposed the iniquity of your servants.

“Then Judah said, "Before God the sins of your servants have been discovered"—not this one [of the cup] but the one for which we have been requited with these things.”

But Joseph replied, “Do not be afraid. Am I in the place of God?

“Joseph wept and said, "Do not be afraid of me, for although your father has died, the God of your father, on account of whom I will never strike you, is still alive.”