Genesis 48

¹ And it came to pass afterafter these things, that one told JosephJoseph, Behold, thy fatherfather is sicksick: and he took with him his twotwo sons, ManassehManasseh and EphraimEphraim.

² And one told JacobJacob, and saidsaid, Behold, thy sonson JosephJoseph comethcometh to thee: and IsraelIsrael strengthenedstrengthened himself, and satsat upon the bed.

³ And JacobJacob saidsaid to JosephJoseph, God AlmightyAlmighty appeared to me at LuzLuz, in the land of Canaanland of Canaan, and blessedblessed me,

⁴ And saidsaid to me, Behold I will make thee fruitfulfruitful, and multiplymultiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will givegive this landland to thy seedseed afterafter thee, for an everlastingeverlasting possession.

⁵ And now, thy twotwo sons, EphraimEphraim and ManassehManasseh, who were bornborn to thee in the landland of EgyptEgypt, before I camecame to thee into EgyptEgypt, are mine; as ReubenReuben and SimeonSimeon, they shall be mine.

⁶ And thy issue, which thou begettest afterafter them, shall be thine, and shall be calledcalled afterafter the namename of their brethrenbrethren in their inheritanceinheritance.

⁷ And as for me, when I camecame from Padan, RachelRachel dieddied by me in the land of Canaanland of Canaan, in the wayway, when yet there was but a little wayway to comecome to EphrathEphrath: and I buriedburied her there in the wayway of EphrathEphrath, the same is Beth-lehem.

⁸ And IsraelIsrael beheld Joseph'sJoseph's sons, and saidsaid, Who are these?

⁹ And JosephJoseph saidsaid to his fatherfather, They are my sons, whom GodGod hath givengiven me in this place. And he saidsaid, Bring them, I pray thee, to me, and I will blessbless them.

¹⁰ (Now the eyeseyes of IsraelIsrael were dim for ageage, so that he could not seesee:) And he brought them nearnear to him; and he kissedkissed them, and embraced them.

¹¹ And IsraelIsrael saidsaid to JosephJoseph, I had not thought to seesee thy faceface: and lo, GodGod hath shown me also thy seedseed.

¹² And JosephJoseph brought them out from between his kneesknees, and he bowedbowed himself with his face to the earthearth.

¹³ And JosephJoseph took them bothboth, EphraimEphraim in his right handright hand towards Israel'sIsrael's left handleft hand, and ManassehManasseh in his left handleft hand towards Israel'sIsrael's right handright hand, and brought them nearnear to him.

¹⁴ And IsraelIsrael stretched outstretched out his right handright hand, and laid it upon Ephraim'sEphraim's headhead, who was the younger, and his left handleft hand upon ManassehManasseh's headhead, guiding his handshands by design; for ManassehManasseh was the first-bornfirst-born.

¹⁵ And he blessedblessed JosephJoseph, and saidsaid, GodGod, beforebefore whom my fathersfathers AbrahamAbraham and IsaacIsaac did walkwalk, the GodGod who hath fed me all my life longlong to this dayday,

¹⁶ The angelangel who hath redeemedredeemed me from all evilevil, blessbless the lads; and let my namename be named on them, and the namename of my fathersfathers AbrahamAbraham and IsaacIsaac: and let them growgrow into a multitude in the midst of the earthearth.

¹⁷ And when JosephJoseph sawsaw that his fatherfather laid his right handright hand upon the headhead of EphraimEphraim, it displeased him: and he lifted his fatherfather's handhand, to removeremove it from Ephraim'sEphraim's headhead to ManassehManasseh's headhead.

¹⁸ And JosephJoseph saidsaid to his fatherfather, Not so, my fatherfather; for this is the first-bornfirst-born; putput thy right handright hand upon his headhead.

¹⁹ And his fatherfather refused, and saidsaid, I knowknow it, my sonson, I knowknow it; he also shall become a peoplepeople, and he also shall be great; but truly his youngeryounger brotherbrother shall be greater than he, and his seedseed shall become a multitude of nationsnations.

²⁰ And he blessedblessed them that dayday, saying, In thee shall IsraelIsrael blessbless, saying, GodGod make thee as EphraimEphraim and as ManassehManasseh: and he set EphraimEphraim beforebefore ManassehManasseh.

²¹ And IsraelIsrael saidsaid to JosephJoseph, Behold, I diedie; but GodGod shall be with you, and bring you again to the landland of your fathersfathers.

²² Moreover I have givengiven to thee oneone portion above thy brethrenbrethren, which I took out of the handhand of the Amorite with my swordsword and with my bowbow.