Genesis 48

1After these things, it was said to Yoseph, “Look, your father is sick.” So he took his two sons with him, Manasseh and Ephraim.

2And it was told to Jacob, and it was said, “Look, your son Joseph has come to you.” And Israel strengthened himself and sat up on the bed.

3And Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me,”

4And he said to me, ‘Look, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make you into an assembly of peoples, and I will give this land to your offspring after you as an everlasting possession.’

5And now, your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, like Reuben and Simeon.

6But your offspring whom you father after them will be yours; they will be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance.

7As for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died to my sorrow in the land of Canaan on the way, while there was still some distance to go to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).

8When Israel saw Joseph's sons, he said, “Who are these?”

9And Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” And he said, “Please bring them to me, and I will bless them.”

10Israel’s eyes were dim with age; he could not see. So he brought them near to him, and he kissed them and embraced them.

11And Israel said to Joseph, “I did not expect to see your face, and behold, God has let me see even your offspring.”

12Then Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed with his face to the ground.

13And Joseph took the two of them—Ephraim in his right hand, at Israel’s left, and Manasseh in his left hand, at Israel’s right—and brought them near to him.

14Then Israel stretched out his right hand and placed it on Ephraim’s head, though he was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, crossing his hands, for Manasseh was the firstborn.

15And he blessed Joseph and said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has shepherded me from my beginning to this day,”

16The angel who has redeemed me from all evil, may he bless the boys; and may my name and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac be called on them; and may they multiply greatly in the midst of the land.

17When Joseph saw that his father had placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, it was displeasing in his eyes, and 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, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a people, and he too will become great. Nevertheless, his younger brother will become greater than he, and his offspring will become the fullness of nations.”

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

21Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you back to the land of your fathers.”

22And I give you one portion above your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.