|
Chapter 48 |
| 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 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 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, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt
before I came unto 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
unto Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath; the same is
Bethlehem. |
| 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 in this place. 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 showed 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 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 firstborn. |
| 15 | And he blessed Joseph, and
said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed
me all my life long unto this day, |
| 16 | The Angel which 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
firstborn; 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 unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God shall 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. |
