Israel’s Last Days

48 Now it came about after these things that ^[a]Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is sick.” So he took his two sons ^(A)Manasseh and Ephraim with him. ² When ^[b]it was told to Jacob, “Behold, your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel ^[c]collected his strength and sat ^[d]up in the bed. ³ Then Jacob said to Joseph, “^[e](B)God Almighty appeared to me at ^(C)Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, ⁴ and He said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and numerous, and I will make you a multitude of peoples, and will give this land to your ^[f]descendants after you as ^(D)an everlasting possession.’ ⁵ Now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; ^(E)Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as ^(F)Reuben and Simeon are. ⁶ But your children that you have fathered after them shall be yours; they shall be called by the ^[g]names of their brothers in their inheritance. ⁷ Now as for me, when I came from ^(G)Paddan, ^(H)Rachel died, ^[h]to my sorrow, in the land of Canaan on the journey, when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath. I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”

⁸ When Israel ^(I)saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?” ⁹ And Joseph said to his father, “^(J)They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” So he said, “Bring them to me, please, so that ^(K)I may bless them.” ¹⁰ Now ^(L)the eyes of Israel were so ^[i]dim from age that he could not see. And ^[j]Joseph brought them close to him, and he ^(M)kissed them and embraced them. ¹¹ And Israel said to Joseph, “I never ^[k]expected to see your face, and behold, God has let me see your ^[l]children as well!” ¹² Then Joseph ^[m]took them from his knees, and ^(N)bowed with his face to the ground. ¹³ And Joseph took them both, Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel’s left, and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel’s right, and brought them close to him. ¹⁴ But Israel reached out his right hand and placed it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, crossing his hands, although ^(O)Manasseh was the firstborn. ¹⁵ And he blessed Joseph, and said,

¹⁷ When Joseph saw that his father ^(U)placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, it displeased him; and he grasped his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. ¹⁸ And Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn. Place your right hand on his head.” ¹⁹ But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know; he also will become a people and he also will be great. However, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and ^(V)his ^[q]descendants shall become ^[r]a multitude of nations.” ²⁰ So ^(W)he blessed them that day, saying,

And so he put Ephraim before Manasseh. ²¹ Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but ^(X)God will be with you, and ^(Y)bring you back to the land of your fathers. ²² And I give you one ^[s]portion more than your brothers, ^(Z)which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow.”