Genesis 48-50 (Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition)

Genesis 48

 ¹After these things, it was told Joseph that his father was sick: and he set out to go to him, taking his two sons Manasses and Ephraim.

    ²And it was told the old man: Behold I thy son Joseph cometh to thee. And being strengthened he sat on his bed.

    ³And when Joseph was come in to him, he said : God Almighty appeared to me at Lute, which is in the land of Chanaan: and he blessed me,

    ⁴And he said : I will cause thee to increase and multiply, and I will make of thee a multitude of people: and I will give this land to thee, and to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.

    ⁵So thy two sons who were born to thee in the land of Egypt before I came hither to thee, shall be mine: Ephraim and Manasses shall be reputed to me as Ruben and Simeon.

    ⁶But the rest whom thou shalt have after them, shall be thine, and shall be called by the name of their brethren in their possessions.

    ⁷For, when I came out of Mesopotamia, Rachel died from me in the land of Ohanaan in the very journey, and it was springtime: and I was going to Ephrata, and I buried her near the way of Ephrata, which by another name is called Bethlehem.

    ⁸Then seeing his sons, he said to him: Who are these?

    ⁹He answered: They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said: Bring them to me that I may bless them.

    ¹⁰For Israel's eyes were dim by reason of his great age, and he could not see clearly. And when they were brought to him, he kissed and embraced them.

    ¹¹And said to his son: I am not deprived of seeing thee: moreover God hath shewed me thy seed.

    ¹²And when Joseph had taken them from his father's lap, he bowed down with his face to the ground.

    ¹³And he set Ephraim on his right bend, that is, towards the left hand of Israel; but Manasses on his left hand, to wit, towards his father's right hand, and brought them near to him.

    ¹⁴But he stretching forth his right hand, put it upon the head of Ephraim the younger brother; and the left upon the head of Manasses who was the elder, changing his hands.

    ¹⁵And Jacob blessed the sons of Joseph, and said: God, in whose sight my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, God that feedeth me from my youth until this day;

    ¹⁶The angel that delivereth me from all evils, bless these boys: and let my name be called upon them, and the names of my fathers Abraham, and Isaac, and may they grow into a multitude upon the earth.

    ¹⁷And Joseph seeing that his father had put his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, was much displeased: and taking his father's hand he tried to lift it from Ephraims head, and to remove it to the head of Manasses.

    ¹⁸And he said to his father: It should not be so, my father: for this is the first- born, put thy right hand upon his head.

    ¹⁹But he refusing, said: I know, my son, I know: and this also shall become peoples, and shall be multiplied: but this younger brother shall be greater than he: and his seed shall grow into nations.

    ²⁰And he blessed them at that time, saying: In thee shall Israel be blessed, and it shall be said: God do to thee as to Ephraim, and as to Manasses. And he set Ephraim before Manasses.

    ²¹And he said to Joseph his son: Be- hold I die, and God will be with you, and will bring you back into the land of your fathers.

    ²²I give thee a portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorrhite a with my sword and bow.

   

Genesis 49

 ¹And Jacob called his sons, and said to them: Gather yourselves together that I may tell you the things that shall befall you in the last days.

    ²Gather yourselves together, and hear, O ye sons of Jacob, hearken to Israel your father:

    ³Ruben, my firstborn, thou art my strength, and the beginning of my sorrow: excelling in gifts, greater in command.

    ⁴Thou art poured out as water, grow thou not: because thou wentest up to thy father's bed, and didst defile his couch.

    ⁵Simeon and Levi brethren: vessels of iniquity, waging war.

    ⁶Let not my soul go into their counsel, nor my glory be in their assembly: "be- cause in their fury they slew a man, and in their selfwill they undermined a wall.

    ⁷Cursed be their fury, because it was stubborn: and their wrath because it was cruel: I Will divide them in Jacob, and will scatter them in Israel.

    ⁸Juda, thee shall thy brethren praise: thy hands shall be on the necks of thy enemies: the sons of thy father shall bow down to thee.

    ⁹Juda is a lion's whelp: to the prey, my son, thou art gone up: resting thou hast couched as a lion, and as a lioness, who shall rouse him?

    ¹⁰The sceptre shall not be taken away from Juda, nor a ruler from his thigh, till he come that is to be sent, and he shall be the expectation of nations.

    ¹¹11Tying his foal to the vineyard, and his ass, 0 my son, to the vine. He shall wash his robe in wine, and his garment in the blood of the grape.

    ¹²His eyes are more beautiful than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.

    ¹³Zabulon shall dwell on the sea shore, and in the road of ships, reaching as far as Sidon.

    ¹⁴Issachar shall be a strong ass lying down between the borders.

    ¹⁶He saw rest that it was good: and the land that it was excellent: and he bowed his shoulder to carry, and became a servant under tribute.

    ¹⁶Dan shall judge his people like an- other tribe in Israel.

    ¹⁷Let Dan be a snake in the way, a serpent in the path, that biteth the horse's heels that his rider may fall backward.

    ¹⁸I will look for thy salvation, 0 Lord.

    ¹⁹Gad, being girded, shall fight before him: and he himself shall be girded backward.

    ²⁰Aser, his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield dainties to kings.

    ²¹Nephtali, a hart let loose, and giving words of beauty.

    ²²Joseph is a growing son, a growing son and comely to behold; the daughters run to and fro upon the wall.

    ²³But they that held darts provoked him, and quarrelled with him, and envied him.

    ²⁴His bow rested upon the strong, and the bands of his arms and his hands were loosed, by the hands of the mighty one of Jacob: thence he came forth a pastor, the stone of Israel.

    ²⁶The God of thy father shall be thy helper, and the Almighty shall bless thee with the blessings of heaven above, with the blessings of the deep that lieth be- neath, with the blessings of the breasts and of the womb.

    ²⁶The blessings of thy father are strengthened with the blessings of his fathers: until the desire of the everlasting hills should come; may they be upon the head of Joseph, and upon the crown of the Nazarite among his brethren.

    ²⁷Benjamin a ravenous wolf, in the morning shall eat the prey, and in the evening shall divide the spoil.

    ²⁸All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: these things their father spoke to them, and he blessed every one, with their proper blessings.

    ²⁹And he charged them, saying: I am now going to be gathered to my people : bury me with my fathers in the double cave, which is in the field of Ephron the Hethite,

    ³⁰Over against Mambre in the land of Chanaan, which Abraham bought to- gather with the field of Ephron the Hethite for a possession to bury in.

    ³¹There they buried him, and Sara his wife: there was Isaac buried with Rebecca his wife: there also Lia doth lie buried.

    ³²And when he had ended the commandments, wherewith he instructed his sons, he drew up his feet upon the bed, and died: and he was gathered to his people."

   

Genesis 50

 ¹And when Joseph saw this, he fell upon his father's face weeping and kissing him.

    ²And he commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father.

    ³And while they were fulfilling his commands, there passed forty days: for this was the manner with bodies that were embalmed, and Egypt mounted for him seventy days.

    ⁴And the time of the mourning being expired, Joseph spoke to the family of Pharao: If I have found favour in your sight, speak in the ears of Pharao:

    ⁵For my father made me swear to him, saying: Behold I die: thou shalt bury me in my sepulchre which I have digged for myself in the land of Chanaan. So I will go up and bury my father, and return.

    ⁶And Pharao said to him: Go up and bury thy father according as he made thee swear.

    ⁷So he went up, and there went with him all the ancients of Pharao's house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt,

    ⁸And the house of Joseph with his brethren, except their children, and their flocks and herds, which they left in the land of Gessen.

    ⁹He had also in his train chariots and horsemen: and it was it great company.

    ¹⁰And they came to the threshingfloor of Atad, which is situated beyond the Jordan: where celebrating the exequies with a great and vehement lamentation, they spent full seven days.

    ¹¹And when the inhabitants of Chanaan saw this, they said: This is a great mourning to the Egyptians. And there- fore the name of that place was called, The mourning of Egypt.

    ¹²So the sons of Jacob did as he had commanded them.

    ¹³And carrying him into the land of Chanaan, they buried him in the double cave which Abraham had bought together with the held for a possession of a buryingplace, of Ephron the Hethite over against Mambre.

    ¹⁴And Joseph returned into Egypt with his brethren, and all that were in his company, after he had buried his father.

    ¹⁵Now he being dead, his brethren were afraid, and talked one with another : Lest perhaps he should remember the wrong he suffered, and requite us all the evil that we did to him.

    ¹⁶And they sent a message to him, saying: Thy father commanded us before he died,

    ¹⁷That we should say thus much to thee from him: I beseech thee to forget the wickedness of thy brethren, and the sin and malice they practiced against thee: we also pray thee, to forgive the servants of the God of thy father this wickedness. And when Joseph heard this, he wept.

    ¹⁸And his brethren came to him: and worshipping prostrate on the ground they said: We are thy servants.

    ¹⁹And he answered them: Fear not: can we resist the will of God?

    ²⁰You thought evil against me: but God turned it into good, that he might exalt me, as at present you see, and might save many people.

    ²¹Fear not: I will feed you and your children. And he comforted them, and spoke gently and mildly.

    ²²And he dwelt in Egypt with all his father's house: and lived a hundred and ten years. And he saw the children of Ephraim to the third generation. The children also of Machir the son of Ma-nasses were born on Joseph's knees.

    ²³After which he told his brethren: God will visit you after my death, and will make you go up out of this land, to the land which he swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

    ²⁴And he made them swear to him, saying: God will visit you, Carry my bones with you out of this place:

    ²⁵And he died being a hundred and ten years old. And being embalmed he was laid in a coffin in Egypt.