Genesis 48:1–49:32

After these things, it was told Joseph that his father was sick; and he set out to go to him, taking his two sons Manasses and Ephraim.

²And it was told the old man: Behold thy son Joseph cometh to thee. And being strengthened, he sat on his bed.

³And when Joseph was come in to him, he said: God almighty appeared to me at Luza, which is in the land of Chanaan, and he blessed me,

⁴And said: I will cause thee to increase and multiply, and I will make of thee a multitude of people: and I will give this land to thee, and to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.

⁵So thy two sons, who were born to thee in the land of Egypt before I came hither to thee, shall be mine: Ephraim and Manasses shall be reputed to me as Ruben and Simeon.

⁶But the rest whom thou shalt have after them, shall be thine, and shall be called by the name of their brethren in their possessions.

⁷For, when I came out of Mesopotamia, Rachel died from me in the land of Chanaan in the very journey, and it was spring time: and I was going to Ephrata, and I buried her near the way of Ephrata, which by another name is called Bethlehem.

⁸Then seeing his sons, he said to him: Who are these?

⁹He answered: They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said: Bring them to me, that I may bless them.

¹⁰For Israel’s eyes were dim by reason of his great age, and he could not see clearly. And when they were brought to him, he kissed and embraced them,

¹¹And said to his son: I am not deprived of seeing thee; moreover God hath shewn me thy seed.

¹²And when Joseph had taken them from his father’s lap, he bowed down with his face to the ground.

¹³And he set Ephraim on his right hand, that is, towards the left hand of Israel; but Manasses on his left hand, to wit, towards his father’s right hand, and brought them near to him.

¹⁴But he, stretching forth his right hand, put it upon the head of Ephraim, the younger brother; and the left upon the head of Manasses, who was the elder, changing his hands.

¹⁵And Jacob blessed the sons of Joseph, and said: God, in whose sight my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, God that feedeth me from my youth until this day:

¹⁶The angel that delivereth me from all evils, bless these boys: and let my name be called upon them, and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and may they grow into a multitude upon the earth.

¹⁷And Joseph seeing that his father had put his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, was much displeased: and taking his father’s hand, he tried to lift it from Ephraim’s head, and to remove it to the head of Manasses.

¹⁸And he said to his father: It should not be so, my father; for this is the firstborn, put thy right hand upon his head.

¹⁹But he refusing, said: I know, my son, I know: and this also shall become a people, and shall be multiplied; but his younger brother shall be greater than he; and his seed shall grow into nations.

²⁰And he blessed them at that time, saying: In thee shall Israel be blessed, and it shall be said: God do to thee as to Ephraim, and as to Manasses. And he set Ephraim before Manasses.

²¹And he said to Joseph, his son: Behold I die, and God will be with you, and will bring you back into the land of your fathers.

²²I give thee a portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorrhite with my sword and bow.

Chapter 49

And Jacob called his sons, and said to them: Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you the things that shall befall you in the last days.

²Gather yourselves together, and hear, O ye sons of Jacob, hearken to Israel, your father:

³Ruben, my firstborn, thou art my strength, and the beginning of my sorrow; excelling in gifts, greater in command.

⁴Thou art poured out as water, grow thou not; because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed, and didst defile his couch.

⁵Simeon and Levi brethren: vessels of iniquity waging war.

⁶Let not my soul go into their counsel, nor my glory be in their assembly: because in their fury they slew a man, and in their selfwill they undermined a wall.

⁷Cursed be their fury, because it was stubborn: and their wrath, because it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and will scatter them in Israel.

⁸Juda, thee shall thy brethren praise: thy hand shall be on the necks of thy enemies; the sons of thy father shall bow down to thee.

⁹Juda is a lion’s whelp: to the prey, my son, thou art gone up: resting thou hast couched as a lion, and as a lioness, who shall rouse him?

¹⁰The sceptre shall not be taken away from Juda, nor a ruler from his thigh, till he come that is to be sent, and he shall be the expectation of nations.

¹¹Tying his foal to the vineyard, and his ass, O my son, to the vine. He shall wash his robe in wine, and his garment in the blood of the grape.

¹²His eyes are more beautiful than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.

¹³Zabulon shall dwell on the seashore, and in the road of ships, reaching as far as Sidon.

¹⁴Issachar shall be a strong ass, lying down between the borders.

¹⁵He saw rest that it was good: and the land that it was excellent: and he bowed his shoulder to carry, and became a servant under tribute.

¹⁶Dan shall judge his people like another tribe in Israel.

¹⁷Let Dan be a snake in the way, a serpent in the path, that biteth the horse’s heels, that his rider may fall backward.

¹⁸I will look for thy salvation, O Lord.

¹⁹Gad, being girded, shall fight before him: and he himself shall be girded backward.

²⁰Aser, his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield dainties to kings.

²¹Nephthali, a hart let loose, and giving words of beauty.

²²Joseph is a growing son, a growing son and comely to behold: the daughters run to and fro upon the wall;

²³But they that held darts, provoked him, and quarrelled with him, and envied him.

²⁴His bow rested upon the strong, and the bands of his arms and his hands were loosed, by the hands of the mighty one of Jacob: thence he came forth a pastor, the stone of Israel.

²⁵The God of thy father shall be thy helper, and the Almighty shall bless thee with the blessings of heaven above, with the blessings of the deep that lieth beneath, with the blessings of the breasts and of the womb.

²⁶The blessings of thy father are strengthened with the blessings of his fathers: until the desire of the everlasting hills should come: may they be upon the head of Joseph, and upon the crown of the Nazarite among his brethren.

²⁷Benjamin a ravenous wolf, in the morning shall eat the prey, and in the evening shall divide the spoil.

²⁸All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: these things their father spoke to them, and he blessed every one with their proper blessings.

²⁹And he charged them, saying: I am now going to be gathered to my people: bury me with my fathers in the double cave, which is in the field of Ephron the Hethite,

³⁰Over against Mambre, in the land of Chanaan, which Abraham bought together with the field, of Ephron the Hethite, for a possession to bury in.

³¹There they buried him, and Sara his wife: there was Isaac buried with Rebecca, his wife: there also Lia doth lie buried.

³²And when he had ended the commandments, wherewith he instructed his sons, he drew up his feet upon the bed, and died: and he was gathered to his people.