Genesis 48:15–22

¹⁵Then he blessed Joseph and said:

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

the God who has been my shepherd ^zall my life to this day,

¹⁶the Angel who has redeemed me from all harm ^a—

may He bless these boys.

And may they be called by my name

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

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 ^cand 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, ^dand he too will be great; nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his offspring will become a populous nation.” ^e20So he blessed them that day with these words:

The nation Israel will invoke blessings by you, saying,

“May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh,”

putting Ephraim before Manasseh.

²¹Then Israel 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. ^f22Over and above what I am giving your brothers, I am giving you the one mountain slope ^gthat I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and bow.” ^h