< 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.
And it came to pass after these things, that one told Joseph, Behold, thy father is sick: and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
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.
And one told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh to thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed.
3 And Jacob says to Joseph, “God Almighty has appeared to me, in Luz, in the land of Canaan, and blesses me,
And Jacob said to Joseph, God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and 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, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.
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 thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born to thee in the land of Egypt before I came to thee into Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.
6 and your family which you have begotten after them are yours; by the name of their brothers they are called in their inheritance.
And thy issue, which thou begettest after them, shall be thine, and shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance.
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.”
And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when yet there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath; the same is Bethlehem.
8 And Israel sees the sons of Joseph and says, “Who [are] these?”
And Israel beheld Joseph’s sons, and said, Who are these?
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.”
And Joseph said to his father, They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, to me, and I will 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;
Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see. And he brought them near to him; and he kissed them, and embraced 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.”
And Israel said to Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath shown me also thy seed.
12 And Joseph brings them out from between his knees, and bows himself on his face to the earth;
And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.
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.
And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near to him.
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.
And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands knowingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn.
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:
And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God who hath fed me all my life long to this day,
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 who hath redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of 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;
And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he lifted his father’s hand, to remove 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.”
And Joseph said to his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon 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”;
And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of 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.
And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before 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;
And Israel said to Joseph, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you again to the land of your fathers.
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.”
Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.

< Genesis 48 >