Genesis 48:1–50:14
Jacob Blesses Ephraim and Manasseh
48 And it happened that after these things, it was said to Joseph, “Behold, your father is ill.” And he took his two sons with him, Manasseh and Ephraim. 2 And it was told to Jacob, “Behold, your son Joseph has come to you.” Then Israel strengthened himself and he sat up in the bed. 3 Then Jacob said to Joseph, “El-Shaddaia appeared to me in Luz, in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, 4 and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and make you numerous, and will make you a company of nations. And I will give this land to your offspring after you as an everlasting possession.’ 5 And now, your two sons who were born to you in the land of Egypt before my coming to you in Egypt, are mine. Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine as Reuben and Simeon are. 6 And your children whom you father after them shall be yours. By the name of their brothers they shall be called, with respect to their inheritance. 7 As for me, when I came from Paddan-Aram, Rachel died ⌊to my sorrow⌋b in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath. And I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).” 8 When Israel saw the sons of Joseph he said, “Who are these?” 9 Then Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons whom God has given me here.” And he said, “Please bring them to me that I may bless them.” 10 Now the eyes of Israel were dimc on account of old age; he was not able to see. So he brought them near to him, and he kissed them and embraced them. 11 And Israel said to Joseph, “I did not expect to see your face and behold, God has also shown me your offspring.” 12 Then Joseph removed them from his knees and bowed down with his face to the ground. 13 And Joseph took the two of them, Ephraim at his right to the left of Israel, and Manasseh at his left to the right of Israel. And he brought them near to him. 14 And Israel stretched out his right hand and put it on the head of Ephraim (now he was the younger), and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands, for Manasseh was the firstborn. 15 And he blessed Joseph and said,
“The God before whom my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, walked,
The God who shepherded me ⌊all my life⌋d unto this day,
16 The angel who redeemed me from all evil,
may he bless the boys.
And through them let my name be perpetuated,e
and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac.
And let them multiply into many in the midst of the earth.
17 When Joseph saw that his father put his right hand on the head of Ephraim, he was displeased. And he took hold of his father’s hand to remove it from the head of Ephraim over to the head of Manasseh. 18 And Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father; because this one is the firstborn. Put your right hand upon his head.” 19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son; I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great, but his younger brother shall be greater than him, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.” 20 So he blessed them that day, saying,
Through you Israel shall pronounce blessing, saying,
‘May God make you like Ephraim and like Manasseh.’ ”
So he put Ephraim before Manasseh. 21 And Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you back to the land of your ancestors.f 22 And I have given to you one slope of land rather than your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorites by my sword and with my bow.”
49 Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together so that I can tell you what will happen with you in ⌊days to come⌋.a
2 Assemble and hear, O sons of Jacob!
Listen to Israel your father!
3 Reuben, you are my firstborn,
my strength, and the firstfruit of my vigor,
excelling in rank and excelling in power.
4 Unstableb as water, you shall not excel any longer,
for you went up upon the bed of your father,
then defiled it. You went up upon my couch!
5 Simeon and Levi are brothers;
weapons of violence are their swords.
Let mec not come into their council.
6 Let not my persond be joined to their company.
For in their anger they killed men,
and at their pleasure they hamstrung cattle.
7 Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,
and their wrath, for it is cruel.
I will divide them in Jacob,
and I will scatter them in Israel.
8 Judah, as for you, your brothers shall praise you.
Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies.
The sons of your father shall bow down to you.
From the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He bowed down; he crouched like a lion and as a lioness.
Who shall rouse him?
10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff between his feet,
until Shiloh comes.
And to him shall be the obedience of nations.
11 Binding his donkey to the vine
and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,
he washes his clothing in the wine
and his garment in the blood of grapes.
12 The eyes are darker than wine,
and the teeth whiter than milk.
13 Zebulun shall settle by the shore of the sea.
He shall become a haven for ships,
and his border shall be at Sidon.
14 Issachar is a strong donkey,
crouching between the sheepfolds.
15 He saw a resting place that was good,
and land that was pleasant.
So he bowed his shoulder to the burden
and became a servant of forced labor.
as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan shall be a serpent on the way,
a viper on the road
that bites the heels of a horse,
so that its rider falls backward.
18 I wait for your salvation, O Yahweh.
but he shall attack their heels.
and he shall provide from the king’s delicacies.
21 Naphtali is a doe running free
that puts forth beautiful words.
22 Joseph is the boughe of a fruitful vine,
a fruitful boughf by a spring.
His branches climb over the wall.
23 ⌊The archers⌋g fiercely attacked him.
They shot arrows at him and were hostile to him.
24 But his bow remained in a steady position;
⌊his arms⌋h were made agile
by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob.
From there is the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel.
25 Because of the God of your father he will help you
and by Shaddaii he will bless you
with the blessings of heaven above,
blessings of the deep that crouches beneath,
blessings of the breasts and the womb.
26 The blessings of your father
are superior to the blessings of my ancestors,
to the bounty of the everlasting hills.
May they be on the head of Joseph,
and on the forehead of the prince of his brothers.
27 Benjamin is a devouring wolf,
devouring the prey in the morning,
and dividing the plunder in the evening.
28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them; each according to his blessing he blessed them. 29 Then he instructed them and said to them, “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me among my ancestorsj in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah that is beforek Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site. 31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife. And there I buried Leah—32 the purchase of the field and the cave which was in it from the Hittites.” 33 When Jacob finished instructing his sons he drew his feet up to the bed. Then he took his last breath and was gathered to his people.
Jacob’s Funeral and Joseph’s Remaining Time in Egypt
50 Then Joseph fell on the face of his father and wept upon him and kissed him. 2 And Joseph instructed his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. 3 Forty days ⌊were required for it⌋,a for thus are the days ⌊required for⌋b embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days. 4 When the days of his weeping had passed, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the hearing of Pharaoh, saying, 5 ‘My father made me swear, saying, “Behold, I am about to die. In my tomb that I have hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan—there you must bury me.” So then, please let me go up and let me bury my father; then I will return.’ ” 6 Then Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father as he made you swear.” 7 So Joseph went up to bury his father. And all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, went up with him, 8 with all the household of Joseph, his brothers, and the household of his father. They left only their little children and their flocks and their herds in the land of Goshen. 9 And there also went up with him chariots and horsemen. The company was very great. 10 When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which was beyond the Jordan, they lamented there with a very great and sorrowful wailing. And he made a mourning ceremony for his father seven days. 11 And when the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, saw the mourning ceremony at the threshing floor of Atad they said, “This is a severe mourning for the Egyptians.” Therefore its name was called Abel-Mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.12 Thus his sons did to him just as he had instructed them. 13 And his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which field Abraham had bought as a burial site from Ephron the Hittite beforec Mamre. 14 And after burying his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.