Genesis 48
1 And so whanne these thingis weren don, it was teld to Joseph, that his fadir was sijk. And he took hise twei sones, Manasses and Effraym, and he disposide to go.
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 seid to the elde man, Lo! thi sone Joseph cometh to thee; which was coumfortid, and sat in the bed.
When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” he gathered his strength and sat up in bed.
3 And whanne Joseph entride to hym, he seide, Almyyti God apperide to me in Luza, which is in the lond of Canaan, and blesside me,
Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in Canaan, and he blessed me there.
4 and seide, Y schal encreesse and multiplie thee, and Y schal make thee in to cumpanyes of puplis, and Y schal yyue to thee this lond, and to thi seed aftir thee, in to euerlastinge possessioun.
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 Therfor thi twei sones, that ben borun to thee in the lond of Egipt bifore that Y cam hidir to thee, schulen be myne, Effraym and Manasses as Ruben and Symeon schulen be arettid to me;
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 forsothe the othere whiche thou schalt gendre aftir hem schulen be thine; and thei schulen be clepid bi the name of her britheren in her possessiouns.
Any other children you have after them will be yours, and will share their inheritance within the land of their older brothers.
7 Forsothe whanne Y cam fro Mesopotamye, Rachel was deed to me in the lond of Canaan, in thilke weie; and it was the bigynnyng of somer; and Y entride in to Effrata, and beriede hir bisidis the weie of Effrata, which bi anothir name is clepid Bethleem.
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 Forsothe Jacob seiy the sones of Joseph, and seide to him, Who ben these?
Israel saw Jacob's sons and said, “These are your sons then?”
9 He answeride, Thei ben my sones, whiche God yaf to me in this place. Jacob seide, Brynge hem to me that Y blesse hem.
“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 For `the iyen of Israel, dasewiden for greet eelde, and he myyte not se clereli; and he kisside and collide tho children ioyned to hym, and seide to his sone,
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 Y am not defraudid of thi siyt; ferthermore God schewide to me thi seed.
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 whanne Joseph hadde take hem fro `the fadris lappe, he worschipide lowe to erthe.
Joseph took his sons from between Israel's knees, and bowed low with his face to the ground.
13 And he sette Effraym on his riyt side, that is, on the lift side of Israel; forsothe he settide Manasses in his lift side, that is, on the riyt side of the fadir; and he ioynede bothe to hym.
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 Which helde forth the riyt hond, and settide on `the heed of Effraym, the lesse brothir; sotheli he settide the left hond on `the heed of Manasses, that was the more thury birthe. Jacob chaungide `the hondes,
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 blesside his sone Joseph, and seide, God, in whos siyt my fadris Abraham and Isaac yeden; God, that fedith me fro my yong wexynge age til in to present 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 aungel that delyuerede me fro alle yuelis, blesse thes children, and my name be clepid on hem, and the names of my fadris Abraham and Ysaac; and wexe thei in multitude on erthe.
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 Forsothe Joseph seiy that his fadir hadde set the riyt hond on the heed of Effraym, and took heuyli, and he enforside to reise the fadris hond takun fro the heed of Effraym, and to bere `ouer on `the heed of Manasses.
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 he seide to the fadir, Fadir, it acordith not so; for this is the firste gendrid; sette thi riyt hond on the heed `of hym.
“Not like that, father, this is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head,” Joseph told him.
19 Which forsook and seide, Y woot, my sone, Y woot; and sotheli this child schal be in to puplis, and he schal be multiplied; but his yonger brother schal be more than he, and `his seed schal encreesse in to folkis.
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 blesside hem in that tyme, and seide, Israel schal be blessid in thee, Joseph, and it schal be seid, God do to thee as to Effraym and as to Manasses. And he settide Effraym bifore Manasses;
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 seide to Joseph, his sone, Lo! Y die, and God schal be with you, and schal lede you ayen to the lond of youre fadris;
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 Y yyue to thee o part ouer thi britheren which Y took fro the hand of Amorei, in my swerd and bowe.
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.”
