Genesis 48

1 And it comes to pass, after these things, that [one] says to Joseph, “Behold, your father is sick”; and he takes his two sons with him, Manasseh and Ephraim.

Some time later, someone told Joseph, “[Hey, ] your father is ill.” When Joseph heard that, he took his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, to see his father.

2 And [one] declares [it] to Jacob and says, “Behold, your son Joseph is coming to you”; and Israel strengthens himself, and sits on the bed.

When someone told Jacob, “Look, your son Joseph has come to see you!” Jacob sat up on the bed, even though it was difficult for him to do that.

3 And Jacob says to Joseph, “God Almighty has appeared to me, in Luz, in the land of Canaan, and blesses me,

He said to Joseph, “When I was at Luz in Canaan, God Almighty appeared to me. He blessed me

4 and says to me, Behold, I am making you fruitful, and have multiplied you, and given you for an assembly of peoples, and given this land to your seed after you, a continuous possession.

and said to me, ‘I am going to enable you to become the father of many children. You will have many descendants, and they will become [the ancestors of] many people-groups. And I will give this land to your descendants to possess forever.’

5 And now, your two sons, who are born to you in the land of Egypt, before my coming to you to Egypt, they [are] mine; Ephraim and Manasseh, as Reuben and Simeon, they are mine;

“And now I will consider that your two sons, who were born to you here in Egypt before I came here, will (belong to me/be as though they are my sons). Ephraim and Manasseh will be [as though they were] my sons, and they will inherit my possessions, just like my sons Reuben and Simeon [and the others] will.

6 and your family which you have begotten after them are yours; by the name of their brothers they are called in their inheritance.

If you later become the father of any more children, they will not be considered to be my children, but as my grandchildren, and [in Canaan] they will receive as part of what they inherit some of the same land that is in the territory that their brothers [Ephraim and Manasseh] will inherit.

7 And I—in my coming in from Padan-[Aram] Rachel has died by me in the land of Canaan, in the way, while yet a distance of land to enter Ephrata, and I bury her there in the way of Ephrata, which [is] Beth-Lehem.”

Many years ago, as I was returning from Paddan-Aram/Mesopotamia, your mother Rachel died in the Canaan region, while we were still traveling, not far from Ephrath [town]. So I buried her body there alongside the road to Ephrath [which is now called Bethlehem].”

8 And Israel sees the sons of Joseph and says, “Who [are] these?”

When Jacob saw Joseph’s sons, he asked, “Who are these boys?”

9 And Joseph says to his father, “They [are] my sons, whom God has given to me in this [place]”; and he says, “Please bring them to me, and I bless them.”

Joseph replied, “They are the sons that God has given to me here in Egypt.” Jacob said, “Bring them close to me so that I can bless them.”

10 And the eyes of Israel have been heavy from age—he is unable to see; and he brings them near to him, and he kisses them and cleaves to them;

Jacob was almost blind because he was very old. He could not recognize the boys. So Joseph brought his sons close to his father, and Jacob kissed them and hugged them.

11 and Israel says to Joseph, “I had not thought [possible] to see your face, and behold, God has also showed me your seed.”

Jacob said to Joseph, “I did not expect to see you again, but look at this! God has allowed me to see not only you, but he has allowed me to see your children, too!”

12 And Joseph brings them out from between his knees, and bows himself on his face to the earth;

Joseph took the boys from alongside Jacob’s knees. Then he bowed down with his face to the ground.

13 and Joseph takes them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left, and Manasseh in his left toward Israel’s right, and brings [them] near to him.

Then Joseph took both of the boys, putting Ephraim on his right side toward Jacob’s left hand, and putting Manasseh on his left side toward Jacob’s right hand, and brought them close to Jacob.

14 And Israel puts out his right hand and places [it] on the head of Ephraim, who [is] the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh; he has guided his hands wisely, for Manasseh [is] the firstborn.

But Jacob [did not do what Joseph wanted him to do. Instead], he reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim’s head, even though he was the younger son. He crossed his arms and put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, even though Manasseh was the older son.

15 And he blesses Joseph and says, “God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac habitually walked: God who is feeding me from my being to this day:

Then he (blessed/asked God to bless) Joseph and his sons, saying, “My grandfather Abraham and my father Isaac conducted their lives as God desired, and to this very day God has led me and taken care of me as a shepherd leads and cares for his sheep [MET].

16 the Messenger who is redeeming me from all evil blesses the youths, and my name is called on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and they increase into a multitude in the midst of the land.”

The angel whom he sent has kept me from being harmed in any way. I pray that God will bless these boys. I pray that people will never forget about me and about Abraham and Isaac because of what God does for these boys. I pray that they will have many descendants who will live all over the earth.”

17 And Joseph sees that his father sets his right hand on the head of Ephraim, and it is wrong in his eyes, and he supports the hand of his father to turn it aside from off the head of Ephraim to the head of Manasseh;

When Joseph saw that his father had placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head and not on Manasseh’s head, he was distressed/displeased. So he took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.

18 and Joseph says to his father, “Not so, my father, for this [is] the firstborn; set your right hand on his head.”

Joseph said to him, “My father, that is not right! The one on whom you put your left hand is my older son. Put your right hand on his head.”

19 And his father refuses and says, “I have known, my son, I have known; he also becomes a people, and he also is great, and yet, his young brother is greater than he, and his seed is the fullness of the nations”;

But his father refused, saying, “I know that, my son, I know what I am doing. Manasseh’s descendants will also become a people-group, and they will become important. But his younger brother’s descendants will become greater than his will. His descendants will become several nations.”

20 and he blesses them in that day, saying, “By you does Israel bless, saying, God set you as Ephraim and as Manasseh”; and he sets Ephraim before Manasseh.

So he blessed them both on that day, saying, “The people in Israel will use your names when they bless people. They will say, ‘We pray that God will help you as he helped Ephraim and Manasseh.’” In that way, Jacob said that Ephraim would become more important than Manasseh.

21 And Israel says to Joseph, “Behold, I am dying, and God has been with you, and has brought you back to the land of your fathers;

Then Jacob said to Joseph, “I am about to die. But I know that God will help/protect you. And some day he will take your descendants back to the land of their ancestors.

22 and I have given to you one portion above your brothers, which I have taken out of the hand of the Amorite by my sword and by my bow.”

And it is to you, not to your brothers, that I will give the fertile hill in the Shechem area. I captured that land from the Amor people-group, fighting them with my sword and my bow and arrows.”