| 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. |
