CHAPTER 48
Some time later,
Joseph
was told,
“Your father
is ill.”
So he set out
with
his two
sons,
Manasseh
and Ephraim.
When Jacob
was told,
“Your son
Joseph
has come
to you,”
Israel
rallied his strength
and sat up
in
bed.
Jacob
said
to
Joseph,
“God
Almighty
appeared
to
me at Luz
in the land
of Canaan,
and there He blessed
me
and told
me,
‘Behold,
I will make you fruitful
and multiply you;
I will make you
a multitude
of peoples,
and will give
this
land
to your descendants
after you
as an everlasting
possession.’
And now
your two
sons
born
to you
in Egypt
before
I came
to you
here
shall be reckoned as
mine;
Ephraim
and Manasseh
shall be
mine,
just as Reuben
and Simeon are mine.
Any children
born
to you
after them
shall be yours,
and they shall be called
by
the names
of their brothers
in the territory they inherit.
Now as for me,
when I was returning
from Paddan,
to my sorrow
Rachel
died
along the way
in the land
of Canaan,
some distance
from Ephrath.
So I buried
her there
beside the road
to Ephrath”
(that
is,
Bethlehem).
Joseph
said
to
his father,
“They
are the sons
God
has given
me
in this place.”
So Jacob said,
“Please
bring them
to me,
that I may bless them.”
Now Israel’s
eyesight
was poor
because of old age;
he could
hardly
see.
Joseph brought
his sons to him,
and his father kissed
them
and embraced
them.
“I never
expected
to see
your face again,”
Israel
said
to
Joseph,
“but now
God
has let me see
your children
as well.”
And Joseph
took
both
of them—
with Ephraim
in his right hand
toward Israel’s
left hand,
and Manasseh
in his left hand
toward Israel’s
right hand—
and brought them close
to him.
But Israel
stretched out
his right hand
and put
it on
the head
of Ephraim,
the younger;
and crossing
his hands,
he put his left
on
Manasseh’s
head,
although
Manasseh
was the firstborn.
Then he blessed
Joseph
and said:
“May the God
before
whom
my fathers
Abraham
and Isaac
walked,
the God
who has been my shepherd
all my life
to
this
day,
the Angel
who has redeemed
me
from all
harm—
may He bless
these boys.
And may they be called
by my name
and the names
of my fathers
Abraham
and Isaac,
and may they grow
into a multitude
upon
the earth.”
When Joseph
saw
that
his father
had placed
his right
hand
on
Ephraim’s
head,
he was displeased
and took
his father’s
hand
to move
it
from
Ephraim’s
head
to
Manasseh’s.
But his father
refused.
“I know,
my son,
I know!”
he said.
“He
too
shall become
a people,
and he
too
shall be great;
nevertheless,
his younger
brother
shall be greater
than he,
and his offspring
shall become
a multitude
of nations.”
So that day
Jacob blessed
them
and said:
“By you
shall Israel
pronounce
this blessing:
‘May God
make
you like Ephraim
and Manasseh.’”
So he put
Ephraim
before
Manasseh.
Then Israel
said
to
Joseph,
“Look,
I
am about to die,
but God
will be
with you
and bring
you
back to
the land
of your fathers.
And to you,
as one who is above
your brothers,
I
give
the
ridge of land
that
I took
from
the Amorites
with my sword
and bow.”