Genesis 48:1–49:33

¹And it cometh to pass, after these things, that one saith to Joseph, ‘Lo, thy father is sick;’ and he taketh his two sons with him, Manasseh and Ephraim. ²And one declareth to Jacob, and saith, ‘Lo, thy son Joseph is coming unto thee;’ and Israel doth strengthen himself, and sit upon the bed. ³And Jacob saith unto Joseph, ‘God Almighty hath appeared unto me, in Luz, in the land of Canaan, and blesseth me, ⁴and saith unto me, Lo, I am making thee fruitful, and have multiplied thee, and given thee for an assembly of peoples, and given this land to thy seed after thee, a possession age-during.

⁵‘And now, thy two sons, who are born to thee in the land of Egypt, before my coming unto thee to Egypt, mine they are; Ephraim and Manasseh, as Reuben and Simeon they are mine; ⁶and thy family which thou hast begotten after them are thine; by the name of their brethren they are called in their inheritance.

⁷‘And I—in my coming in from Padan-Aram Rachel hath died by me in the land of Canaan, in the way, while yet a kibrath of land to enter Ephrata, and I bury her there in the way of Ephrata, which is Bethlehem.’

⁸And Israel seeth the sons of Joseph, and saith, ‘Who are these?’ ⁹and Joseph saith unto his father, ‘They are my sons, whom God hath given to me in this place;’ and he saith, ‘Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I bless them.’ ¹⁰And the eyes of Israel have been heavy from age, he is unable to see; and he bringeth them nigh unto him, and he kisseth them, and cleaveth to them; ¹¹and Israel saith unto Joseph, ‘To see thy face I had not thought, and lo, God hath shewed me also thy seed.’ ¹²And Joseph bringeth them out from between his knees, and boweth himself on his face to the earth; ¹³and Joseph taketh them both, Ephraim in his right hand towards Israel’s left, and Manasseh in his left towards Israel’s right, and bringeth them nigh to him. ¹⁴And Israel putteth out his right hand, and placeth it upon the head of Ephraim, who is the younger, and his left hand upon the head of Manasseh; he hath guided his hands wisely, for Manasseh is the first-born. ¹⁵And he blesseth Joseph, and saith, ‘God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked habitually: God who is feeding me from my being unto this day: ¹⁶the Messenger who is redeeming me from all evil doth bless the youths, and my name is called upon them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and they increase into a multitude in the midst of the land.’ ¹⁷And Joseph seeth that his father setteth his right hand on the head of Ephraim, and it is wrong in his eyes, and he supporteth the hand of his father to turn it aside from off the head of Ephraim to the head of Manasseh; ¹⁸and Joseph saith unto his father, ‘Not so, my father, for this is the first-born; set thy right hand on his head.’ ¹⁹And his father refuseth, and saith, ‘I have known, my son, I have known; he also becometh a people, and he also is great, and yet, his young brother is greater than he, and his seed is the fulness of the nations;’ ²⁰and he blesseth them in that day, saying, ‘By thee doth Israel bless, saying, God set thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh;’ and he setteth Ephraim before Manasseh. ²¹And Israel saith unto Joseph, ‘Lo, I am dying, and God hath been with you, and hath brought you back unto the land of your fathers; ²²and I—I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I have taken out of the hand of the Amorite by my sword and by my bow.’

Chapter 49

¹And Jacob calleth unto his sons and saith, ‘Be gathered together, and I declare to you that which doth happen with you in the latter end of the days.

²‘Be assembled, and hear, sons of Jacob, And hearken unto Israel your father. ³Reuben! my first-born thou, My power, and beginning of my strength, The abundance of exaltation, And the abundance of strength; ⁴Unstable as water, thou art not abundant; For thou hast gone up thy father’s bed; Then thou hast polluted: My couch he went up!

⁵Simeon and Levi are brethren! Instruments of violence—their espousals! ⁶Into their secret, come not, O my soul! Unto their assembly be not united, O mine honour; For in their anger they slew a man, And in their self-will eradicated a prince. ⁷Cursed is their anger, for it is fierce, And their wrath, for it is sharp; I divide them in Jacob, And I scatter them in Israel.

⁸Judah! thou—thy brethren praise thee! Thy hand is on the neck of thine enemies, Sons of thy father bow themselves to thee. ⁹A lion’s whelp is Judah, For prey, my son, thou hast gone up; He hath bent, he hath crouched as a lion, And as a lioness; who causeth him to arise? ¹⁰The sceptre turneth not aside from Judah, And a lawgiver from between his feet, Till his Seed come; And his is the obedience of peoples. ¹¹Binding to the vine his ass, And to the choice vine the colt of his ass, He hath washed in wine his clothing, And in the blood of grapes his covering; ¹²Red are eyes with wine, And white are teeth with milk!

¹³Zebulun at a haven of the seas doth dwell, And he is for a haven of ships; And his side is unto Zidon. ¹⁴Issacher is a strong ass, Crouching between the two folds; ¹⁵And he seeth rest that it is good, And the land that it is pleasant, And he inclineth his shoulder to bear, And is to tribute a servant. ¹⁶Dan doth judge his people, As one of the tribes of Israel; ¹⁷Dan is a serpent by the way, An adder by the path, Which is biting the horse’s heels, And its rider falleth backward. ¹⁸For Thy salvation I have waited, Jehovah! ¹⁹Gad! a troop assaulteth him, But he assaulteth last. ²⁰Out of Asher his bread is fat; And he giveth dainties of a king. ²¹Naphtali is a hind sent away, Who is giving beauteous young ones.

²²Joseph is a fruitful son; A fruitful son by a fountain, Daughters step over the wall; ²³And embitter him—yea, they have striven, Yea, hate him do archers; ²⁴And his bow abideth in strength, And strengthened are the arms of his hands By the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, Whence is a shepherd, a son of Israel. ²⁵By the God of thy father who helpeth thee, And the Mighty One who blesseth thee, Blessings of the heavens from above, Blessings of the deep lying under, Blessings of breasts and womb;— ²⁶Thy father’s blessings have been mighty Above the blessings of my progenitors, Unto the limit of the heights age-during They are for the head of Joseph, And for the crown of the one Separate from his brethren. ²⁷Benjamin! a wolf teareth; In the morning he eateth prey, And at evening he apportioneth spoil.’

²⁸All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is that which their father hath spoken unto them, and he blesseth them; each according to his blessing he hath blessed them. ²⁹And he commandeth them, and saith unto them, ‘I am being gathered unto my people; bury me by my fathers, at the cave which is in the field of Ephron the Hittite; ³⁰in the cave which is in the field of Machpelah, which is on the front of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a burying-place; ³¹(there they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah); ³²the purchase of the field and of the cave which is in it, is from Sons of Heth.’ ³³And Jacob finisheth commanding his sons, and gathereth up his feet unto the bed, and expireth, and is gathered unto his people.

Chapter 50