Genesis 48–49

Chapter 48

Israel’s Last Days

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

²When ¹it was told to Jacob, “Behold, your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel ²collected his strength and sat ³up 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 numerous, and I will make you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your ¹descendants after you for ^aan everlasting possession.’

⁵“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 offspring 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).”

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

⁹Joseph 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.

¹¹Israel said to Joseph, “I never ¹expected to see your face, and behold, God has let me see your ²children as well.”

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

¹³Joseph 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.

¹⁵He blessed Joseph, and said,

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

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

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

^bBless the lads;

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.”

¹⁷When Joseph saw that his father ^alaid his right hand on Ephraim’s head, it displeased him; and he grasped his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.

¹⁸Joseph 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 ¹descendants shall become a ²multitude of nations.”

^20aHe 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 ^bbring you back to the land of your fathers.

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

Chapter 49

Israel’s Prophecy concerning His Sons

¹Then Jacob summoned his sons and said, “Assemble yourselves that I may tell you what will befall you ^ain the ¹days to come.

²“Gather together and hear, O sons of Jacob;

And ^alisten to Israel your father.

³“Reuben, you are my firstborn;

My might and ^athe beginning of my strength,

¹Preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.

⁴“¹Uncontrolled as water, you shall not have preeminence,

^aBecause you went up to your father’s bed;

Then you defiled it—he went up to my couch.

⁵“^aSimeon and Levi are brothers;

Their swords are implements of violence.

⁶“^aLet my soul not enter into their council;

Let not my glory be united with their assembly;

Because in their anger they slew ¹men,

And in their self-will they lamed ²oxen.

⁷“Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce;

And their wrath, for it is cruel.

^aI will ¹disperse them in Jacob,

And scatter them in Israel.

⁸“Judah, your brothers shall praise you;

Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;

^aYour father’s sons shall bow down to you.

⁹“Judah is a ^alion’s whelp;

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

^bHe ¹couches, he lies down as a lion,

And as a ²lion, who ³dares rouse him up?

¹⁰“^aThe scepter shall not depart from Judah,

Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,

¹Until Shiloh comes,

And ^bto him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

¹¹“^1aHe ties his foal to the vine,

And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine;

^bHe washes his garments in wine,

And his robes in the blood of grapes.

¹²“His eyes are ¹dull from wine,

And his teeth ²white from milk.

¹³“^aZebulun will dwell at the seashore;

And he shall be ¹a haven for ships,

And his flank shall be toward Sidon.

¹⁴“Issachar is ¹a strong donkey,

^aLying down between the ²sheepfolds.

¹⁵“When he saw that a resting place was good

And that the land was pleasant,

He bowed his shoulder to bear burdens,

And became a slave at forced labor.

¹⁶“^aDan shall ^bjudge his people,

As one of the tribes of Israel.

¹⁷“Dan shall be a serpent in the way,

A horned snake in the path,

That bites the horse’s heels,

So that his rider falls backward.

¹⁸“^aFor Your salvation I wait, O Lord.

¹⁹“^aAs for Gad, ¹raiders shall raid him,

But he will raid at their ²heels.

²⁰“^1aAs for ^bAsher, his ²food shall be ³rich,

And he will yield royal dainties.

²¹“^aNaphtali is a doe let loose,

He gives beautiful words.

²²“^aJoseph is a fruitful ¹bough,

A fruitful bough by a spring;

Its ²branches run over a wall.

²³“The archers bitterly attacked him,

And shot at him and harassed him;

²⁴But his ^abow remained ¹firm,

And ^2bhis arms were agile,

From the hands of the ^cMighty One of Jacob

(From there is ^dthe Shepherd, ^ethe Stone of Israel),

²⁵From ^athe God of your father who helps you,

And ^1bby the ²Almighty who blesses you

With ^cblessings of heaven above,

Blessings of the deep that lies beneath,

Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.

²⁶“The blessings of your father

Have surpassed the blessings of my ancestors

Up to the ¹utmost bound of ^athe everlasting hills;

May they be on the head of Joseph,

And on the crown of the head of the one distinguished among his brothers.

²⁷“Benjamin is a ¹ravenous wolf;

In the morning he devours the prey,

And in the evening he divides the spoil.”

²⁸All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them ¹when he blessed them. He blessed them, every one ²with the blessing appropriate to him.

²⁹Then he charged them and said to them, “I am about to be ^agathered to my people; ^bbury me with my fathers in the cave that is in ^cthe field of Ephron the Hittite,

³⁰in the ^acave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field from Ephron the Hittite for a ¹burial site.

³¹“There they buried ^aAbraham and his wife ^bSarah, there they buried ^cIsaac and his wife Rebekah, and there I buried Leah—

³²the field and the cave that is in it, purchased from the sons of Heth.”

³³When Jacob finished charging his sons, he drew his feet into the bed and ^abreathed his last, and was ^bgathered to his people.