Genesis 48:1–49:33

JACOB BLESSES EPHRAIM AND MANASSEH

48Some time after this, Joseph was told, “Your father is weaker.” So he set out with his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. ²When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed.

³Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty^a appeared to me at Luz^b in the land of Canaan and blessed me. ⁴He said to me, ‘I will make you fruitful and numerous; I will make many nations come from you, and I will give this land as a permanent possession^c to your future descendants.’^{d 5}Your two sons^e born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt are now mine.^f Ephraim and Manasseh belong to me just as Reuben and Simeon do. ⁶Children born to you after them will be yours and will be recorded under the names of their brothers with regard to their inheritance. ⁷When I was returning from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died along the way,^g some distance from Ephrath in the land of Canaan. I buried her there along the way to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).

⁸When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?”

⁹And Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons God has given me here.”

So Israel said, “Bring them to me and I will bless them.”^{h 10}Now his eyesight was poor because of old age; he could hardly^B see.ⁱ Joseph brought them to him, and he kissed and embraced them.^{j 11}Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again, but now God has even let me see your offspring.” ¹²Then Joseph took them from his father’s knees and bowed with his face to the ground.^k

EPHRAIM’S GREATER BLESSING

¹³Then Joseph took them both—with his right hand Ephraim toward Israel’s left, and with his left hand Manasseh toward Israel’s right—and brought them to Israel. ¹⁴But Israel stretched out his right hand and put it on the head of Ephraim, the younger, and crossing his hands, put his left on Manasseh’s head, although Manasseh was the firstborn.^{l 15}Then he blessed Joseph and said:

The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,^m

the God who has been my shepherdⁿ all my life to this day,

¹⁶the angel who has redeemed me from all harm^o—

may he bless these boys.

And may they be called by my name

and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac,^p

and may they grow to be numerous within the land.

¹⁷When Joseph saw that his father had placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, he thought it was a mistake^A and took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s. ¹⁸Joseph said to his father, “Not that way, my father! This one is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.”

¹⁹But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know! He too will become a tribe,^B and he too will be great; nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his offspring will become a populous nation.”^{C 20}So he blessed them that day, putting Ephraim before Manasseh when he said, “The nation Israel will invoke blessings by you, saying, ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’ ”

²¹Israel said to Joseph, “Look, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you back to the land of your fathers.^{q 22}Over and above what I am giving your brothers, I am giving you the one mountain slope^D that I took from the Amorites with my sword and bow.”^r

JACOB’S LAST WORDS

49Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather around, and I will tell you what will happen to you in the days to come.^Es

²Come together and listen, sons of Jacob;

listen to your father Israel:

³Reuben, you are my firstborn,^t

my strength and the firstfruits of my virility,^u

excelling in prominence, excelling in power.

⁴Turbulent as water, you will not excel,

because you got into your father’s bed^v

and you defiled it—he^F got into my bed.

⁵Simeon and Levi are brothers;

their knives are vicious weapons.^a

⁶May I never enter their council;

may I never join their assembly.

For in their anger they kill men,

and on a whim they hamstring oxen.

⁷Their anger is cursed, for it is strong,

and their fury, for it is cruel!

I will disperse them throughout Jacob

and scatter them throughout Israel.^b

⁸Judah, your brothers will praise you.^c

Your hand will be on the necks of your enemies;

your father’s sons will bow down to you.^d

⁹Judah is a young lion^e—

my son, you return from the kill.

He crouches; he lies down like a lion

or a lioness—who dares to rouse him?

¹⁰The scepter will not depart from Judah

or the staff from between his feet

until he whose right it is comes^Af

and the obedience of the peoples belongs to him.^g

¹¹He ties his donkey to a vine,

and the colt of his donkey to the choice vine.

He washes his clothes in wine

and his robes in the blood of grapes.

¹²His eyes are darker than wine,

and his teeth are whiter than milk.

¹³Zebulun will live by the seashore

and will be a harbor for ships,

and his territory will be next to Sidon.^h

¹⁴Issachar is a strong donkey

lying down between the saddlebags.^B

¹⁵He saw that his resting place was good

and that the land was pleasant,

so he leaned his shoulder to bear a load

and became a forced laborer.ⁱ

¹⁶Dan will judge his people^j

as one of the tribes of Israel.

¹⁷Dan will be a snake by the road,

a viper beside the path,

that bites the horse’s heels

so that its rider falls backward.

¹⁸I wait for your salvation, Lord.

¹⁹Gad will be attacked by raiders,

but he will attack their heels.^k

²⁰Asher’s food will be rich,

and he will produce royal delicacies.^l

²¹Naphtali is a doe set free

that bears beautiful fawns.^m

²²Joseph is a fruitful vine,

a fruitful vine beside a spring;

its branches^D climb over the wall.^E

²³The archers attacked him,

shot at him, and were hostile toward him.

²⁴Yet his bow remained steady,

and his strong arms were made agile

by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,ⁿ

by the name of^F the Shepherd,^o the Rock of Israel,^p

²⁵by the God of your father who helps you,

and by the Almighty who blesses you

with blessings of the heavens above,

blessings of the deep that lies below,

and blessings of the breasts and the womb.

²⁶The blessings of your father excel

the blessings of my ancestors^A

and^B the bounty of the ancient hills.^Cq

May they rest on the head of Joseph,

on the brow of the prince of his brothers.

²⁷Benjamin is a wolf; he tears his prey.

In the morning he devours the prey,

and in the evening he divides the plunder.”^r

²⁸These are the tribes of Israel, twelve in all, and this is what their father said to them. He blessed them, and he blessed each one with a suitable blessing.

JACOB’S BURIAL INSTRUCTIONS

²⁹Then he commanded them, “I am about to be gathered to my people.^a Bury me with my ancestors^b in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hethite.^{c 30}The cave is in the field of Machpelah near Mamre, in the land of Canaan. This is the field Abraham purchased from Ephron the Hethite as burial property.^{d 31}Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried there,^e Isaac and his wife Rebekah are buried there,^f and I buried Leah there.^{g 32}The field and the cave in it were purchased from the Hethites.” ³³When Jacob had finished giving charges to his sons, he drew his feet into the bed, took his last breath, and was gathered to his people.