Genesis 48

CHAPTER 48

Israel Blesses Manasseh and Ephraim

¹Now it happened after these things that ¹Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is sick.” So he took his two sons ^aManasseh and Ephraim with him.

²Then ¹it was told to Jacob, “Behold, your son Joseph has come to you,” so Israel strengthened himself and sat ²up in the bed.

³Then Jacob said to Joseph, “^1aGod Almighty appeared to me at ^bLuz in the land of Canaan and blessed me,

⁴and He said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply, and I will make you an assembly of peoples, and I will give this land to your seed after you for ^aan everlasting possession.’

⁵“So now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; ^aEphraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as ^bReuben and Simeon are.

⁶“But your kin that ¹have been born after them shall be yours; they shall be called by the ²names of their brothers in their inheritance.

⁷“Now as for me, when I came from ^aPaddan, ^bRachel died, ¹to my sorrow, in the land of Canaan on the journey, when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”

⁸Then Israel ^asaw Joseph’s sons and said, “Who are these?”

⁹And Joseph said to his father, “^aThey are my sons, whom God has given me here.” So he said, “Bring them to me, please, that ^bI may bless them.”

¹⁰Now ^athe eyes of Israel were so dim from age that he could not see. Then ¹Joseph brought them close to him, and he ^bkissed them and embraced them.

¹¹Then Israel said to Joseph, “I never ¹expected to see your face, and behold, God has let me see your seed as well.”

¹²Then Joseph ¹took them from his knees and ^abowed with his face to the ground.

¹³And Joseph took them both, Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel’s left, and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel’s right, and brought them close to him.

¹⁴But Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, ¹crossing his hands, ²although ^aManasseh was the firstborn.

¹⁵And he blessed Joseph and said,

“^aMay the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,

^bThe God who has been my shepherd ¹throughout my life to this day,

^16aThe angel who has redeemed me from all evil,

^bBless these boys;

And may my name ¹live on in them,

And the ²names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac;

And ^cmay they grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”

¹⁷But Joseph saw that his father ^aset his right hand on Ephraim’s head, and it was displeasing in his sight; so he took hold of his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.

¹⁸And Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn. Place your right hand on his head.”

¹⁹But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know; he also will become a people, and he also will be great. However, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and ^ahis seed shall become the fullness of nations.”

^20aAnd he blessed them that day, saying,

“By you Israel will pronounce blessing, saying,

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

Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh.

²¹Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but ^aGod will be with you and ^bwill bring you back to the land of your fathers.

²²“And I give you one ¹portion more than your brothers, ^awhich I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow.”