Genesis 48:1–20

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.