Genesis 48:8–22

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.”