¹ Ephraim feedeth on the wind, and followeth the burning heat: all the day long he multiplied lies and desolation: and he hath made a covenant with the Assyrians, and carried oil into Egypt.

² Therefore there is a judgment of the Lord with Juda, and a visitation for Jacob: he will render to him according to his ways, and according to his devices.

³ In the womb he supplanted his brother: and by his strength he had success with an angel.

⁴ And he prevailed over the angel, and was strengthened: he wept, and made supplication to him: he found him in Bethel, and there he spoke with us.

⁵ Even the Lord the God of hosts, the Lord is his memorial.

⁶ Therefore turn thou to thy God : keep mercy and judgment, and hope in thy God always.

⁷ He is like Chanaan, there is a deceitful balance in his hand, he hath loved oppression.

⁸ And Ephraim said: But yet I am be- come rich, I have found me an idol: all my labours shall not find me the iniquity that I have committed.

⁹ And I that am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt, will yet cause thee to dwell in tabernacles, as in the days of the feast.

¹⁰ And I have spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and I have used similitudes by the ministry of the prophets.

¹¹ If Galaad be an idol, then in vain were they in Galgal offering sacrifices with bullocks: for their altars also are as heaps in the furrows of the field.

¹² Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and was a keeper for a wife.

¹³ But the Lord by a prophet brought Israel out of Egypt: and he was pre- served by a prophet.

¹⁴ Ephraim hath provoked me to wrath with his bitterness, and his blood shall come upon him, and his Lord will render his reproach unto him.

¹ It happened after these things, that someone said to Joseph, "Behold, your father is sick." He took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

² Someone told Jacob, and said, "Behold, your son Joseph comes to you," and Israel strengthened himself, and sat on the bed.

³ 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 you fruitful, and multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your seed after you for an everlasting possession.'

⁵ Now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you into Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh, even as Reuben and Simeon, will be mine.

⁶ Your issue, who you become the father of after them, will be yours. They will be called after the name of their brothers in their inheritance.

⁷ As for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when there was still some distance to come to Ephrath, and I buried her there in the way to Ephrath (the same is Bethlehem)."

⁸ Israel saw Joseph's sons, and said, "Who are these?"

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

¹⁰ Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he couldn't see. He brought them near to him; and he kissed them, and embraced them.

¹¹ Israel said to Joseph, "I didn't think I would see your face, and behold, God has let me see your seed also."

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

¹³ 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 Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it on Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh's head, guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the firstborn.

¹⁵ He blessed Joseph, and said, "The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God who has fed me all my life long to this day,

¹⁶ the angel who has 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. Let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth."

¹⁷ When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him. He held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head.

¹⁸ Joseph said to his father, "Not so, my father; for this is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head."

¹⁹ 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 will be greater than he, and his seed will become a multitude of nations."

²⁰ He blessed them that day, saying, "In you will Israel bless, saying, 'God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh'" He set Ephraim before Manasseh.

²¹ Israel said to Joseph, "Behold, I am dying, but God will be with you, and bring you again to the land of your fathers.

²² Moreover I have given to you one portion above your brothers, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow."