Genesis 48:1–49:33

Jacob ^[Israel^[ Blesses Joseph’s Two Sons

¹Later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim ⸤to see Jacob⸥. ²When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph is here to see you,” Israel gathered his strength and sat up in bed. 

³Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in Canaan and blessed me. ⁴He said to me, ‘I will make you fertile and increase the number of your descendants so that you will become a community of people. I will give this land to your descendants as a permanent possession.’ 

⁵“So your two sons, who were born in Egypt before I came here, are my sons. Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine just as Reuben and Simeon are. ⁶Any other children you have after them will be yours. They will inherit the land listed under their brothers’ names. ⁷As I was coming back from Paddan, Rachel died in Canaan when we were still some distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there on the way to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem). 

⁸When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he asked, “Who are they?” 

⁹“They are my sons, whom God has given me here in Egypt,” Joseph answered his father. 

Then Israel said, “Please bring them to me so that I may bless them.” 

¹⁰Israel’s eyesight was failing because of old age, and he could hardly see. So Joseph brought his sons close to his father, and Israel hugged them and kissed them. 

¹¹Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see you again, and now God has even let me see your sons.” 

¹²Joseph took them off his father’s lap and bowed with his face touching the ground. ¹³Then Joseph took both of them, Ephraim on his right, facing Israel’s left, and Manasseh on his left, facing Israel’s right, and brought them close to him. ¹⁴But Israel crossed his hands and reached out. He put his right hand on Ephraim’s head, although Ephraim was the younger son. He put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, although Manasseh was older. 

¹⁵Then Jacob blessed Joseph, 

“May God, in whose presence my grandfather Abraham 

and my father Isaac walked, 

may God, who has been my shepherd all my life to this very day, 

¹⁶may the Messenger, who has rescued me from all evil, 

bless these boys. 

May they be called by my name 

and by the names of my grandfather Abraham and my father Isaac. 

May they have many children on the earth.” 

¹⁷When Joseph saw that his father had put his right hand on Ephraim’s head, he didn’t like it. So he took his father’s hand in order to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s. ¹⁸Then he said to his father, “That’s not right, Father! This is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.” 

¹⁹His father refused and said, “I know, Son, I know! Manasseh, too, will become a nation, and he, too, will be important. Nevertheless, his younger brother will be more important than he, and his descendants will become many nations.” 

²⁰That day he blessed them. He said, 

“Because of you, Israel will speak this blessing, 

‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh!’ ” 

In this way Israel put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh. 

²¹Then Israel said to Joseph, “Now I’m about to die, but God will be with you. He will bring you back to the land of your fathers. ²²I’m giving you one more mountain ridge than your brothers. I took it from the Amorites with my own sword and bow.” 

49TH CHAPTER

Jacob ^[Israel^[ Blesses His 12 Sons

¹Jacob called for his sons and said, “Come here, and let me tell you what will happen to you in the days to come. 

²“Gather around and listen, sons of Jacob. 

Listen to your father Israel. 

³“Reuben, you are my firstborn, 

my strength, the very first son I had, 

first in majesty and first in power. 

⁴You will no longer be first 

because you were out of control like a flood 

and you climbed into your father’s bed. 

Then you dishonored it. 

He climbed up on my couch. 

⁵“Simeon and Levi are brothers. 

Their swordsare weapons of violence. 

⁶Do not let me attend their secret meetings. 

Do not let me join their assembly. 

In their anger they murdered men. 

At their whim they crippled cattle. 

⁷May their anger be cursed because it’s so fierce. 

May their fury be cursed because it’s so cruel. 

I will divide them among ⸤the sons of⸥ Jacob 

and scatter them among ⸤the tribes of⸥ Israel. 

⁸“Judah, your brothers will praise you. 

Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies. 

Your father’s sons will bow down to you. 

⁹Judah, you are a lion cub. 

You have come back from the kill, my son. 

He lies down and rests like a lion. 

He is like a lioness. Who dares to disturb him? 

¹⁰A scepter will never depart from Judah 

nor a ruler’s staff from between his feet 

until Shiloh comes 

and the people obey him. 

¹¹He will tie his donkey to a grapevine, 

his colt to the best vine. 

He will wash his clothes in wine, 

his garments in the blood of grapes. 

¹²His eyes are darker than wine. 

His teeth are whiter than milk. 

¹³“Zebulun will live by the coast. 

He will have ships by the coast. 

His border will go as far as Sidon. 

¹⁴“Issachar is a strong donkey, 

lying down between the saddlebags. 

¹⁵When he sees that his resting place is good 

and that the land is pleasant, 

he will bend his back to the burden 

and will become a slave laborer. 

¹⁶“Dan will hand down decisions^bfor his people 

as one of the tribes of Israel. 

¹⁷Dan will be a snake on a road, 

a viper on a path, 

that bites a horse’s heels 

so that its rider falls off backwards. 

¹⁸“I wait with hope for you to rescue me, O Lord. 

¹⁹“Gad will be attacked by a band of raiders, 

but he will strike back at their heels. 

²⁰“Asher’s food will be rich. 

He will provide delicacies fit for a king. 

²¹“Naphtali is a doe set free 

that has beautiful fawns. 

²²“Joseph is a fruitful tree, 

a fruitful tree by a spring, 

with branches climbing over a wall. 

²³Archers provoked him, 

shot at him, 

and attacked him. 

²⁴But his bow stayed steady, and his arms remained limber 

because of the help of the Mighty One of Jacob, 

because of the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, 

²⁵because of the God of your father who helps you, 

because of the Almighty who gives you 

blessings from the heavens above, 

blessings from the deep springs below the ground, 

blessings from breasts and womb. 

²⁶The blessings of your father are greater than 

the blessings of the oldest mountains 

and the riches of the ancient hills. 

May these blessings rest on the head of Joseph, 

on the crown of the prince among his brothers. 

²⁷“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf. 

In the morning he devours his prey. 

In the evening he divides the plunder.” 

²⁸These are the 12 tribes of Israel and what their father said to them when he gave each of them his special blessing. 

²⁹Then he gave them these instructions, “I am about to join my ancestors in death. Bury me with my ancestors in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite. ³⁰Abraham bought the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, east of Mamre in Canaan, from Ephron the Hittite to use as a tomb. ³¹Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried there. Isaac and his wife Rebekah are buried there. I also buried Leah there. ³²The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites.” 

³³When Jacob finished giving these instructions to his sons, he pulled his feet into his bed. He took his last breath and joined his ancestors in death.