Genesis 48

¹After this Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is ill”; so he took with him his two sons, Manasʹseh and Eʹphraim. ²And it was told to Jacob, “Your son Joseph has come to you”; then Israel summoned his strength, and sat up in bed. ³And Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, ⁴and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful, and multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your descendants after you for an everlasting possession.’ ⁵And now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Eʹphraim and Manasʹseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are. ⁶And the offspring born to you after them shall be yours; they shall be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. ⁷For when I came from Paddan, Rachel to my sorrow died in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”

⁸When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?” ⁹Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” And he said, “Bring them to me, I pray you, that I may bless them.” ¹⁰Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. So Joseph brought them near him; and he kissed them and embraced them. ¹¹And Israel said to Joseph, “I had not thought to see your face; and lo, God has let me see your children also.” ¹²Then Joseph removed them from his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. ¹³And Joseph took them both, Eʹphraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasʹseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near him. ¹⁴And Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it upon the head of Eʹphraim, who was the younger, and his left hand upon the head of Manasʹseh, crossing his hands, for Manasʹseh was the first-born. ¹⁵And he blessed Joseph, and said,

“The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,

the God who has led me all my life long to this day,

¹⁶the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads;

and in them let my name be perpetuated, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac;

and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”

¹⁷When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Eʹphraim, it displeased him; and he took his father’s hand, to remove it from Eʹphraim’s head to Manasʹseh’s head. ¹⁸And Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father; for this one is the first-born; put your right hand upon his head.” ¹⁹But his father refused, and said, “I know, my son, I know; he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; nevertheless his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.” ²⁰So he blessed them that day, saying,

“By you Israel will pronounce blessings, saying,

‘God make you as Eʹphraim and as Manasʹseh’ ”;

and thus he put Eʹphraim before Manasʹseh. ²¹Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you, and will bring you again to the land of your fathers. ²²Moreover I have given to you rather than to your brothers one mountain slope which I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.”