Genesis 48:15–22

¹⁵Then 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