Genesis 47:28-49

New King James Version

²⁸And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the length of Jacob’s life was one hundred and forty-seven years. ²⁹When the time ^(A)drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “Now if I have found favor in your sight, please ^(B)put your hand under my thigh, and ^(C)deal kindly and truly with me. ^(D)Please do not bury me in Egypt, ³⁰but ^(E)let me lie with my fathers; you shall carry me out of Egypt and ^(F)bury me in their burial place.”

And he said, “I will do as you have said.”

³¹Then he said, “Swear to me.” And he swore to him. So ^(G)Israel bowed himself on the head of the bed.

Jacob Blesses Joseph’s Sons^(H)

48 Now it came to pass after these things that Joseph was told, “Indeed your father is sick”; and he took with him his two sons, ^(I)Manasseh and Ephraim. ²And Jacob was told, “Look, your son Joseph is coming to you”; and Israel ^[a]strengthened himself and sat up on the bed. ³Then Jacob said to Joseph: “God ^(J)Almighty appeared to me at ^(K)Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, ⁴and said to me, ‘Behold, I will ^(L)make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a multitude of people, and ^(M)give this land to your descendants after you ^(N)as an everlasting possession.’ ⁵And now your ^(O)two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine. ⁶Your ^[b]offspring ^[c]whom you beget after them shall be yours; they will be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. ⁷But as for me, when I came from Padan, ^(P)Rachel died beside me in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”

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

⁹Joseph 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 ^(Q)I will bless them.” ¹⁰Now ^(R)the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. Then Joseph brought them near him, and he ^(S)kissed them and embraced them. ¹¹And Israel said to Joseph, ^(T)“I had not thought to see your face; but in fact, God has also shown me your offspring!”

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

“God, ^(Y)before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,
The God who has fed me all my life long to this day,
¹⁶The Angel ^(Z)who has redeemed me from all evil,
Bless the lads;
Let ^(AA)my name be named upon them,
And the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac;
And let them ^(AB)grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”

¹⁷Now when Joseph saw that his father ^(AC)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. ¹⁸And Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”

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

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

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

Jacob’s Last Words to His Sons

49 And Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may ^(AJ)tell you what shall befall you ^(AK)in the last days:

²“Gather together and hear, you sons of Jacob,
And listen to Israel your father.

³“Reuben, you are ^(AL)my firstborn,
My might and the beginning of my strength,
The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power.
⁴Unstable as water, you shall not excel,
Because you ^(AM)went up to your father’s bed;
Then you defiled it—
He went up to my couch.

⁵“Simeon and Levi are brothers;
Instruments of ^[e]cruelty are in their dwelling place.
⁶^(AN)Let not my soul enter their council;
Let not my honor be united ^(AO)to their assembly;
^(AP)For in their anger they slew a man,
And in their self-will they ^[f]hamstrung an ox.
⁷Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce;
And their wrath, for it is cruel!
^(AQ)I will divide them in Jacob
And scatter them in Israel.

⁸“Judah,^(AR) you are he whom your brothers shall praise;
^(AS)Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
^(AT)Your father’s children shall bow down before you.
⁹Judah is ^(AU)a lion’s whelp;
From the prey, my son, you have gone up.
^(AV)He ^[g]bows down, he lies down as a lion;
And as a lion, who shall rouse him?
¹⁰^(AW)The ^[h]scepter shall not depart from Judah,
Nor ^(AX)a lawgiver from between his feet,
^(AY)Until Shiloh comes;
^(AZ)And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.
¹¹Binding his donkey to the vine,
And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,
He washed his garments in wine,
And his clothes in the blood of grapes.
¹²His eyes are darker than wine,
And his teeth whiter than milk.

¹³“Zebulun^(BA) shall dwell by the haven of the sea;
He shall become a haven for ships,
And his border shall ^(BB)adjoin Sidon.

¹⁴“Issachar^(BC) is a strong donkey,
Lying down between two burdens;
¹⁵He saw that rest was good,
And that the land was pleasant;
He bowed ^(BD)his shoulder to bear a burden,
And became a band of slaves.

¹⁶“Dan^(BE) shall judge his people
As one of the tribes of Israel.
¹⁷^(BF)Dan shall be a serpent by the way,
A viper by the path,
That bites the horse’s heels
So that its rider shall fall backward.
¹⁸^(BG)I have waited for your salvation, O Lord!

¹⁹“Gad,^(BH)^[i] a troop shall ^[j]tramp upon him,
But he shall triumph at last.

²⁰“Bread from ^(BI)Asher shall be rich,
And he shall yield royal dainties.

²¹“Naphtali^(BJ) is a deer let loose;
He uses beautiful words.

²²“Joseph is a fruitful bough,
A fruitful bough by a well;
His branches run over the wall.
²³The archers have ^(BK)bitterly grieved him,
Shot at him and hated him.
²⁴But his ^(BL)bow remained in strength,
And the arms of his hands were ^[k]made strong
By the hands of ^(BM)the Mighty God of Jacob
^(BN)(From there ^(BO)is the Shepherd, ^(BP)the Stone of Israel),
²⁵^(BQ)By the God of your father who will help you,
^(BR)And by the Almighty ^(BS)who will bless you
With blessings of heaven above,
Blessings of the deep that lies beneath,
Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
²⁶The blessings of your father
Have excelled the blessings of my ancestors,
^(BT)Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills.
^(BU)They shall be on the head of Joseph,
And on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.

²⁷“Benjamin is a ^(BV)ravenous wolf;
In the morning he shall devour the prey,
^(BW)And at night he shall divide the spoil.”

²⁸All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them. And he blessed them; he blessed each one according to his own blessing.