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. |