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

⁹ Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me in this place.”

And he said, “Please bring them to me, and ^(A)I will bless them.” ¹⁰ Now ^(B)the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. Then Joseph brought them near him, and he ^(C)kissed them and embraced them. ¹¹ And Israel said to Joseph, ^(D)“I had not thought to see your face; but in fact, God has also shown me your offspring!”

¹² So Joseph brought them from beside his knees, and he bowed down with his face to the earth. ¹³ And Joseph took them both, Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near him. ¹⁴ Then Israel stretched out his right hand and ^(E)laid it on Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, ^(F)guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the ^(G)firstborn. ¹⁵ And ^(H)he blessed Joseph, and said:

¹⁷ Now when Joseph saw that his father ^(M)laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; so he took hold of 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 one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”

¹⁹ But his father refused and said, ^(N)“I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly ^(O)his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.”

²⁰ So he blessed them that day, saying, ^(P)“By you Israel will bless, saying, ‘May God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh!’ ” And thus he set Ephraim before Manasseh.

²¹ Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am dying, but ^(Q)God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers. ²² Moreover ^(R)I have given to you one ^[a]portion above your brothers, which I took from the hand ^(S)of the Amorite with my sword and my bow.”

¹³ He has delivered us from ^(A)the power of darkness ^(B)and ^[a]conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, ^14 (C)in whom we have redemption ^[b]through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

¹⁵ He is ^(D)the image of the invisible God, ^(E)the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶ For ^(F)by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or ^(G)dominions or ^[c]principalities or ^[d]powers. All things were created ^(H)through Him and for Him. ^17 (I)And He is before all things, and in Him ^(J)all things consist. ¹⁸ And ^(K)He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, ^(L)the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

Reconciled in Christ

¹⁹ For it pleased the Father that ^(M)in Him all the fullness should dwell,

⁹ For ^(A)in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead ^[a]bodily;

The Eternal Word^(A)

1 In the beginning ^(B)was the Word, and the ^(C)Word was ^(D)with God, and the Word was ^(E)God. ^2 (F)He was in the beginning with God. ^3 (G)All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

Firstborn Inheritance Rights

¹⁵ “If a man has two wives, one loved ^(A)and the other unloved, and they have borne him children, both the loved and the unloved, and if the firstborn son is of her who is unloved, ¹⁶ then it shall be, ^(B)on the day he bequeaths his possessions to his sons, that he must not bestow firstborn status on the son of the loved wife in preference to the son of the unloved, the true firstborn. ¹⁷ But he shall acknowledge the son of the unloved wife as the firstborn ^(C)by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he ^(D)is the beginning of his strength; ^(E)the right of the firstborn is his.

³⁶ “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

^30 (A)The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by ^(B)hanging on a tree. ^31 (C)Him God has exalted to His right hand to be ^(D)Prince and ^(E)Savior, ^(F)to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

⁵⁶ and said, “Look! ^(A)I see the heavens opened and the ^(B)Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”