Chapter 48

Chapter 48

1 Some time later, it was reported to Joseph, “Look! Your father is ill.” So he took his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, along with him.

2 When it was reported to Jacob, saying, “Look! Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel rallied his strength and sat up on the bed.

3 The Almighty Sustainer appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and endowed me with the power of life.

4 He said to me, ‘Look! I will make you fruitful and multiply your numbers; I will turn you into a vast assembly of peoples, and I will give this land to your offspring after you as a permanent possession’.

5 So now, your two sons who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I arrived to you in Egypt are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine, just like Reuben and Simeon.

6 But any offspring you father after them will belong to you; they will be called by the names of their brothers within their inheritances.

7 As for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died to my sorrow in the land of Canaan along the way, when there was still a distance to go to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem)”.

8 Then Israel saw Joseph’s sons and asked, “Who are these?”

9 Joseph answered his father, “They are my sons, whom The All-Powerful One has given to me in this place.” And he said, “Bring them to me, please, so that I may bestow the power of life upon them”.

10 Now Israel’s eyes were dim with age, so that he could not see clearly. Joseph brought them close to him, and he kissed them and embraced them.

11 Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face, and look! The All-Powerful One has let me see your offspring as well”.

12 Joseph removed them from his father’s knees and bowed low with his face to the ground.

13 Joseph took both of them—Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right—and brought them close to him.

14 But Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, though he was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands intentionally, even though Manasseh was the firstborn.

15 He bestowed the power of life upon Joseph and said, “The All-Powerful One, before whom my ancestors Abraham and Isaac walked, The All-Powerful One who has shepherded me all my life to this very day,

16 The Messenger who has rescued me from all harm— may he bestow the power of life upon these youths. May my name be carried on through them, along with the names of my ancestors Abraham and Isaac; and may they multiply into a vast multitude in the midst of the land”.

17 When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it was wrong in his eyes; so he took hold of his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.

18 Joseph said to his father, “Not like this, my father, for this one is the firstborn. Place your right hand on his head.”

19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a people, and he too will be great. Nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his offspring will become a multitude of nations.”

20 So he bestowed the power of life upon them on that day, saying, “By you Israel will invoke the power of life, saying, ‘May The All-Powerful One make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’” Thus he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.

21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “Look! I am about to die, but The All-Powerful One will be with you and will return you to the land of your ancestors.

22 Furthermore, I give to you one portion more than your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow”.