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 cometh to thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed.
3
And Jacob said to Joseph , God Almighty appeared to me at Luz , in the land of Canaan , and blessed me,
4
And said to me, Behold I will make thee fruitful , and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee, for an everlasting possession.
5
And now, thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh , who were born to thee in the land of Egypt , before I came to thee into Egypt , are mine; as Reuben and Simeon , they shall be mine.
6
And thy issue, which thou begettest after them, shall be thine, and 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 , in the way , when yet there was but a little way to come to Ephrath : and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath , the same is Beth-lehem.
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 hath given me in this place. And he said , Bring them, I pray thee, to me, and I will bless them.
10
(Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age , so that he could not see :) And he brought them near to him; and he kissed them, and embraced them.
11
And Israel said to Joseph , I had not thought to see thy face : and lo, God hath shown me also thy seed .
12
And Joseph brought them out from between his knees , and he bowed himself with his face to the earth .
13
And Joseph took them both , Ephraim in his right hand towards Israel's left hand , and Manasseh in his left hand towards Israel's right hand , and brought them near to him.
14
And Israel stretched out his right hand , and laid it upon Ephraim's head , who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh 's head , guiding his hands by design; for Manasseh was the first-born .
15
And he blessed Joseph , and said , God , before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk , the God who hath fed me all my life long to this day ,
16
The angel who hath redeemed me from all evil , bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac : and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth .
17
And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim , it displeased him: and he lifted 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 first-born ; put thy right hand upon his head .
19
And his father refused, and said , I know it, my son , I know it; he also shall become a people , and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations .
20
And he blessed them that day , saying, In thee shall Israel bless , saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh : and he set Ephraim before Manasseh .
21
And Israel said to Joseph , Behold, I die ; but God shall be with you, and bring you again to the land of your fathers .
22
Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren , which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow .