Genesis 48:1–49:33

Jacob Blesses Ephraim and Manasseh

48After this, Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is ill.” So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. ²And it was told to Jacob, “Your son Joseph has come to you.” Then Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed. ³And Jacob said to Joseph, ^z“God Almighty¹ appeared to me at ^aLuz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, ⁴and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples and will give this land to your offspring after you ^bfor an everlasting possession.’ ⁵And now your ^ctwo sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, ^dare mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are. ⁶And the children that you fathered after them shall be yours. They shall be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. ⁷As for me, when I came from Paddan, to my sorrow ^eRachel died in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance² to go to Ephrath, and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”

⁸When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?” ⁹Joseph said to his father, ^f“They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” And he said, “Bring them to me, please, that ^gI may bless them.” ¹⁰Now ^hthe eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. So Joseph brought them near him, ⁱand he kissed them and embraced them. ¹¹And Israel said to Joseph, ^j“I never expected to see your face; and behold, God has let me see your offspring also.” ¹²Then Joseph removed them from his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. ¹³And 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 him. ^14kAnd Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, ^lcrossing his hands (for Manasseh was the firstborn). ¹⁵And he blessed Joseph and said,

“The God ^mbefore whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,

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

¹⁶ⁿthe angel who has ^oredeemed me from all evil, bless the boys;

and in them let ^pmy name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac;

and let them ^qgrow into a multitude³ in the midst of the earth.”

¹⁷When Joseph saw that his father ^rlaid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. ¹⁸And Joseph said to his father, “Not this way, my father; since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head.” ¹⁹But his father refused and said, ^r“I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless, ^shis younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude⁴ of nations.” ²⁰So he blessed them that day, saying,

“By you Israel will pronounce blessings, saying,

^t‘God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh.’ ”

Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh. ²¹Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but ^uGod will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers. ²²Moreover, I have given to ^vyou rather than to your brothers one mountain slope⁵ that I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.”

Jacob Blesses His Sons

49^wThen Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you ^xin days to come.

²“Assemble and listen, O sons of Jacob,

listen to Israel your father.

³“Reuben, you are ^ymy firstborn,

my might, and the ^zfirstfruits of my strength,

preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.

⁴Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence,

because you ^awent up to your father’s bed;

then you defiled it—he went up to my couch!

^5b“Simeon and Levi are brothers;

weapons ^cof violence are their swords.

⁶Let my soul come not into their council;

^dO my glory, ^ebe not joined to their company.

For in their anger they killed men,

and in their willfulness they ^fhamstrung oxen.

⁷Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,

and their wrath, for it is cruel!

I will ^gdivide them in Jacob

and scatter them in Israel.

⁸“Judah, ^hyour brothers shall praise you;

ⁱyour hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;

^jyour father’s sons shall bow down before you.

⁹Judah is ^ka lion’s cub;

from the prey, my son, you have gone up.

^lHe stooped down; he crouched as a lion

and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?

¹⁰The ^mscepter shall not depart from Judah,

nor the ruler’s staff ⁿfrom between his feet,

until tribute comes to him;¹

and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

¹¹Binding his foal to the vine

and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,

he has washed his garments in wine

and his vesture in the blood of grapes.

¹²His ^oeyes are darker than wine,

and his teeth whiter than milk.

^13p“Zebulun shall dwell at the ^qshore of the sea;

he shall become a haven for ships,

and his border shall be at Sidon.

^14r“Issachar is a strong donkey,

crouching between the sheepfolds.²

¹⁵He saw that a resting place was good,

and that the land was pleasant,

so he bowed his shoulder to bear,

and ^sbecame a servant at forced labor.

^16t“Dan shall ^ujudge his people

as one of the tribes of Israel.

¹⁷Dan ^vshall be a serpent in the way,

a viper by the path,

that bites the horse’s heels

so that his rider falls backward.

¹⁸I ^wwait for your salvation, O Lord.

^19x“Raiders shall raid ^yGad,³

but he shall raid at their heels.

^20z“Asher’s food shall be rich,

and he shall yield royal delicacies.

^21a“Naphtali is a doe let loose

that bears beautiful fawns.⁴

²²“Joseph is ^ba fruitful bough,

a fruitful bough by a spring;

his branches run over the wall.⁵

²³The archers ^cbitterly attacked him,

shot at him, and harassed him severely,

²⁴yet ^dhis bow remained unmoved;

his arms⁶ were made agile

by the hands of the ^eMighty One of Jacob

(from there is ^fthe Shepherd,^{7 g}the Stone of Israel),

^25hby the God of your father who will help you,

by ⁱthe Almighty^{8 j}who will bless you

with blessings of heaven above,

blessings of the deep that crouches beneath,

blessings of the breasts and of the womb.

²⁶The blessings of your father

are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents,

up to the bounties ^kof the everlasting hills.⁹

May they be ^lon the head of Joseph,

and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.

^27m“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf,

in the morning devouring the prey

and at evening ⁿdividing the spoil.”

Jacob’s Death and Burial

²⁸All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him. ²⁹Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am to be ^ogathered to my people; ^pbury me with my fathers ^qin the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, ³⁰in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, ^rwhich Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. ^31sThere they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There ^tthey buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah— ³²the field and the cave that is in it were bought from the Hittites.” ³³When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and ^uwas gathered to his people.