Genesis 48–49

Manasseh and Ephraim

48Some time later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim^p along with him. ²When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel^q rallied his strength and sat up on the bed.

³Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty^ar appeared to me at Luz^s in the land of Canaan, and there he blessed me^{t 4}and said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful and increase your numbers.^u I will make you a community of peoples, and I will give this land^v as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you.’^w

⁵“Now then, your two sons born to you in Egypt^x before I came to you here will be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine,^y just as Reuben^z and Simeon^a are mine. ⁶Any children born to you after them will be yours; in the territory they inherit they will be reckoned under the names of their brothers. ⁷As I was returning from Paddan,^bb to my sorrow^c Rachel died in the land of Canaan while we were still on the way, a little distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).^d

⁸When Israel^e saw the sons of Joseph,^f he asked, “Who are these?”

⁹“They are the sons God has given me here,”^g Joseph said to his father.

Then Israel said, “Bring them to me so I may bless^h them.”

¹⁰Now Israel’s eyes were failing because of old age, and he could hardly see.ⁱ So Joseph brought his sons close to him, and his father kissed them^j and embraced them.^k

¹¹Israel^l said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again,^m and now God has allowed me to see your children too.”ⁿ

¹²Then Joseph removed them from Israel’s knees^o and bowed down with his face to the ground.^{p 13}And Joseph took both of them, Ephraim on his right toward Israel’s left hand and Manasseh on his left toward Israel’s right hand,^q and brought them close to him. ¹⁴But Israel^r reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim’s head,^s though he was the younger,^t and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn.^u

¹⁵Then he blessed^v Joseph and said,

“May the God before whom my fathers

Abraham and Isaac walked faithfully,^w

the God who has been my shepherd^x

all my life to this day,

¹⁶the Angel^y who has delivered me from all harm^z

—may he bless^a these boys.^b

May they be called by my name

and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac,^c

and may they increase greatly

on the earth.”^d

¹⁷When Joseph saw his father placing his right hand^e on Ephraim’s head^f he was displeased; so he took hold of his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. ¹⁸Joseph said to him, “No, my father, this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”^g

¹⁹But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a people, and he too will become great.^h Nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he,ⁱ and his descendants will become a group of nations.^j” ²⁰He blessed^k them that day^l and said,

“In your^c name will Israel^m pronounce this blessing:ⁿ

‘May God make you like Ephraim^o and Manasseh.^p’ ”

So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.

²¹Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you^dq and take you^e back to the land of your^f fathers.^{r 22}And to you I give one more ridge of land^gs than to your brothers,^t the ridge I took from the Amorites with my sword^u and my bow.”

Jacob Blesses His Sons

49:1–28Ref—Dt 33:1–29

49Then Jacob called for his sons and said: “Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come.^v

²“Assemble^w and listen, sons of Jacob;

listen to your father Israel.^x

³“Reuben, you are my firstborn,^y

my might, the first sign of my strength,^z

excelling in honor,^a excelling in power.

⁴Turbulent as the waters,^b you will no longer excel,

for you went up onto your father’s bed,

onto my couch and defiled it.^c

⁵“Simeon^d and Levi^e are brothers—

their swords^a are weapons of violence.^f

⁶Let me not enter their council,

let me not join their assembly,^g

for they have killed men in their anger^h

and hamstrungⁱ oxen as they pleased.

⁷Cursed be their anger, so fierce,

and their fury,^j so cruel!^k

I will scatter them in Jacob

and disperse them in Israel.^l

⁸“Judah,^bm your brothers will praise you;

your hand will be on the neckⁿ of your enemies;

your father’s sons will bow down to you.^o

⁹You are a lion’s^p cub,^q Judah;^r

you return from the prey,^s my son.

Like a lion he crouches and lies down,

like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?

¹⁰The scepter will not depart from Judah,^t

nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,^c

until he to whom it belongs^d shall come^u

and the obedience of the nations shall be his.^v

¹¹He will tether his donkey^w to a vine,

his colt to the choicest branch;^x

he will wash his garments in wine,

his robes in the blood of grapes.^y

¹²His eyes will be darker than wine,

his teeth whiter than milk.^ez

¹³“Zebulun^a will live by the seashore

and become a haven for ships;

his border will extend toward Sidon.^b

¹⁴“Issachar^c is a rawboned^f donkey

lying down among the sheep pens.^gd

¹⁵When he sees how good is his resting place

and how pleasant is his land,^e

he will bend his shoulder to the burden^f

and submit to forced labor.^g

¹⁶“Dan^hh will provide justice for his people

as one of the tribes of Israel.ⁱ

¹⁷Dan^j will be a snake by the roadside,

a viper along the path,^k

that bites the horse’s heels^l

so that its rider tumbles backward.

¹⁸“I look for your deliverance,^m Lord.ⁿ

¹⁹“Gad^io will be attacked by a band of raiders,

but he will attack them at their heels.^p

²⁰“Asher’s^q food will be rich;^r

he will provide delicacies fit for a king.^s

²¹“Naphtali^t is a doe set free

that bears beautiful fawns.^ju

²²“Joseph^v is a fruitful vine,^w

a fruitful vine near a spring,

whose branches^x climb over a wall.^k

²³With bitterness archers attacked him;^y

they shot at him with hostility.^z

²⁴But his bow remained steady,^a

his strong arms^b stayed^l limber,

because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob,^c

because of the Shepherd,^d the Rock of Israel,^e

²⁵because of your father’s God,^f who helps^g you,

because of the Almighty,^mh who blesses you

with blessings of the skies above,

blessings of the deep springs below,ⁱ

blessings of the breast^j and womb.^k

²⁶Your father’s blessings are greater

than the blessings of the ancient mountains,

thanⁿ the bounty of the age-old hills.^l

Let all these rest on the head of Joseph,^m

on the brow of the prince among^o his brothers.ⁿ

²⁷“Benjamin^o is a ravenous wolf;^p

in the morning he devours the prey,^q

in the evening he divides the plunder.”^r

²⁸All these are the twelve tribes of Israel,^s and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, giving each the blessing^t appropriate to him.

The Death of Jacob

²⁹Then he gave them these instructions:^u “I am about to be gathered to my people.^v Bury me with my fathers^w in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite,^{x 30}the cave in the field of Machpelah,^y near Mamre^z in Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field^a as a burial place^b from Ephron the Hittite. ³¹There Abraham^c and his wife Sarah^d were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah^e were buried, and there I buried Leah.^{f 32}The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites.^pg”

³³When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people.^h