| 1 | And it came to pass after these things, that one said to 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 unto thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed. |
| 3 | And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, |
| 4 | and said unto 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 unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh, even as Reuben and Simeon, shall be mine. |
| 6 | And thy issue, that thou begettest 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 Paddan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when there was still some distance to come unto Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way to Ephrath (the same is Beth-lehem). |
| 8 | And Israel beheld Joseph`s sons, and said, Who are these? |
| 9 | And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom God hath given me here. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto 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 unto him; and he kissed them, and embraced them. |
| 11 | And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath let me see thy seed also. |
| 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 toward Israel`s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel`s right hand, and brought them near unto 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 wittingly; for Manasseh was the first-born. |
| 15 | And he blessed Joseph, and said, The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God who hath fed me all my life long unto 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 held up his father`s hand, to remove it from Ephraim`s head unto Manasseh`s head. |
| 18 | And Joseph said unto 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: howbeit 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 will Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh. |
| 21 | And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God will be with you, and bring you again unto 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. |
