Genesis 48:13–20

¹³And Joseph took them both, Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near him. ¹⁴Then Israel stretched out his right hand and ^mlaid it on Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, ⁿguiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the ^ofirstborn. ¹⁵And ^phe blessed Joseph, and said:

“God, ^qbefore whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,

The God who has fed me all my life long to this day,

¹⁶The Angel ^rwho has redeemed me from all evil,

Bless the lads;

Let ^smy name be named upon them,

And the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac;

And let them ^tgrow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”

¹⁷Now when Joseph saw that his father ^ulaid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; 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; put your right hand on his head.”

¹⁹But his father refused and said, ^v“I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly ^whis younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.”

²⁰So he blessed them that day, saying, ^x“By you Israel will bless, saying, ‘May God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh!’ ” And thus he set Ephraim before Manasseh.