Genesis 48
1 And it came to pass after these things, that it was reported to Joseph, Behold, your father is ill; and, having taken his two sons, Manasse and Ephraim, he came to Jacob.
Sometime after this, Joseph was told, “Your father is sick.” So Joseph went to see him, taking with him his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim.
2 And it was reported to Jacob, saying, Behold, your son Joseph comes to you; and Israel having strengthened himself, sat upon the bed.
When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” he gathered his strength and sat up in bed.
3 And Jacob said to Joseph, My God appeared to me in Luza, in the land of Chanaan, and blessed me,
Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in Canaan, and he blessed me there.
4 and said to me, Behold, I will increase you, and multiply you, and will make of you multitudes of nations; and I will give this land to you, and to your seed after you, for an everlasting possession.
He told me, ‘Listen! I will make you prosperous and make your descendants so numerous that you will become the ancestor of many nations, and I will give this land to your descendants to own forever.’
5 Now then your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt, before I came to you into Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasse, as Ruben and Symeon they shall be mine.
I am counting as mine your two sons Ephraim and Manasseh who were born here in Egypt before I arrived, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine.
6 And the children which you shall beget hereafter, shall be in the name of their brethren; they shall be named after their inheritances.
Any other children you have after them will be yours, and will share their inheritance within the land of their older brothers.
7 And as for me, when I came out of Mesopotamia of Syria, Rachel, your mother, died in the land of Chanaan, as I drew night to the horse-course of Chabratha of the land [of Chanaan], so as to come to Ephratha; and I buried her in the road of the course; this is Bethlehem.
I'm doing this because tragically for me when I was returning from Paddan-aram, Rachel died in Canaan some distance from Ephrath. I buried her there on the way to Ephrath” (also known as Bethlehem).
8 And when Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he said, Who are these to you?
Israel saw Jacob's sons and said, “These are your sons then?”
9 And Joseph said to his father, They are my sons, whom God gave me here; and Jacob said, Bring me them, that I may bless them.
“Yes, these are the sons God gave me here,” Joseph told his father. “Bring them over here so I can bless them,” he said.
10 Now the eyes of Israel were dim through age, and he could not see; and he brought them near to him, and he kissed them, and embraced them.
Israel's eyesight was failing because of his age and he couldn't see well, so Joseph brought them close to his father, and he kissed and hugged them.
11 And Israel said to Joseph, Behold, I have not been deprived of [seeing] your face, and behold! God has showed me your seed also.
Israel said to Joseph, “I never thought I'd see your face again, and now God has even let me see your children!”
12 And Joseph brought them out from [between] his knees, and they did reverence to him, with their face to the ground.
Joseph took his sons from between Israel's knees, and bowed low with his face to the ground.
13 And Joseph took his two sons, both Ephraim in his right hand, but on the left of Israel, and Manasse on his left hand, but on the right of Israel, and brought them near to him.
Then Joseph placed Ephraim on his right so he would be on Israel's left, and Manasseh on his left so he would be on Israel's right, and then brought them over to Israel.
14 But Israel having stretched out his right hand, laid it on the head of Ephraim, and he was the younger; and his left hand on the head of Manasse, [guiding] his hands crosswise.
But when Israel reached out his hands, he crossed them over and placed his right hand on Ephraim the younger son, and placed his left on Manasseh, the firstborn.
15 And he blessed them and said, The God in whose sight my fathers were well pleasing, [even] Abraam and Isaac, the God who continues to feed me from my youth until this day;
He blessed Joseph, saying, “May the God my grandfather Abraham and my father worshiped—the God who has taken care of me like a shepherd throughout my life until now,
16 the angel who delivers me from all evils, bless these boys, and my name shall be called upon them, and the name of my fathers, Abraam and Isaac; and let them be increased to a great multitude on the earth.
the Angel who has saved me from all kinds of trouble—may he bless these boys. May my name and the names of my grandfather Abraham and father Isaac continue through them, and may they have many descendants that spread throughout the earth.”
17 And Joseph having seen that his father put his right hand on the head of Ephraim—it seemed grievous to him; and Joseph took hold of the hand of his father, to remove it from the head of Ephraim to the head of Manasse.
Joseph was unhappy when saw his father had put his right hand on Ephraim, so he took his father's hand to try and move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head.
18 And Joseph said to his father, Not so, father; for this is the firstborn; lay your right-hand upon his head.
“Not like that, father, this is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head,” Joseph told him.
19 And he would not, but said, I know it, son, I know it; he also shall be a people, and he shall be exalted, but his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.
But his father refused, saying, “I know what I'm doing. Manasseh will also become an important people, but his younger brother will be greater than him, and his descendants will become a large nation.”
20 And he blessed them in that day, saying, In you shall Israel be blessed, saying, God make you as Ephraim and Manasse; and he set Ephraim before Manasse.
So Israel blessed them that day and said: “In the future the people of Israel will use your names to give a blessing, saying, ‘May God bless you like he did Ephraim and Manasseh.’” In saying this he placed Ephraim before Manasseh.
21 And Israel said to Joseph, Behold, I die; and God shall be with you, and restore you to the land of your fathers.
Then Israel said to Joseph, “I'm going to die soon, but God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers.
22 And I give to you Sicima, a select portion above your brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorites with my sword and bow.
I'm also giving you something in addition to what I'm giving your brothers—piece of land on the mountain slope of Shechem that I took from the Amorites with my sword and bow.”
