1
And it came to pass after these things, that one told Joseph , Behold, thy father is sick . And he took with him his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim .
2
And one told Jacob and said , Behold, thy son Joseph is coming to thee. And Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed.
3
And Jacob said to Joseph , The Almighty ùGod appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan , and blessed me,
4
and he said to me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a company of peoples; and will give this land to thy seed after thee [for] an everlasting possession.
5
And now thy two sons, who were born to thee in the land of Egypt before I came to thee into Egypt , shall be mine: Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon .
6
And thy family which thou hast begotten after them shall be thine: they shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance .
7
And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan on the way , when there was yet a certain distance to come to Ephrath ; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath , that is, Bethlehem .
8
And Israel beheld Joseph's sons, and said , Who are these?
9
And Joseph said to his father , They are my sons, whom God has given me here. And he said , Bring them, I pray thee, to me, that I may bless them.
10
But the eyes of Israel were heavy from age : he could not see . And he brought them nearer to him; and he kissed them, and embraced them.
11
And Israel said to Joseph , I had not thought to see thy face ; and behold, God has let me see also thy seed .
12
And Joseph brought them out from his knees , and bowed down with his face to the earth .
13
And Joseph took them both , Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand , and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand , and brought [them] near to him.
14
But Israel stretched out his right hand , and laid [it] on Ephraim's head -- now he was the younger -- and his left hand on Manasseh 's head ; guiding his hands intelligently, for Manasseh was the firstborn .
15
And he blessed Joseph , and said , The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked , the God that shepherded me all my life long to this day ,
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the Angel that redeemed me from all evil , bless the lads; and let my name be named upon them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac ; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the land !
17
When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim , it was evil in his eyes; and he took hold of his father 's hand to remove it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh 's head .
18
And Joseph said to his father , Not so, my father , for this is the firstborn : put thy 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; but truly his younger brother will be greater than he; and his seed will become the fulness of nations .
20
And he blessed them that day , saying, In thee will Israel bless , saying, God make thee as Ephraim and Manasseh ! And he set Ephraim before Manasseh .
21
And Israel said to Joseph , Behold, I die ; and God will be with you, and bring you again to the land of your fathers .
22
And *I* have given to thee one tract [of land] above thy brethren , which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow .