²⁰ Joseph’s sons, born in the land of Egypt, were Manasseh and Ephraim. Their mother was Asenath, daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On.^[a]

⁵⁰ During this time, before the first of the famine years, two sons were born to Joseph and his wife, Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On. ⁵¹ Joseph named his older son Manasseh,^[a] for he said, “God has made me forget all my troubles and everyone in my father’s family.” ⁵² Joseph named his second son Ephraim,^[b] for he said, “God has made me fruitful in this land of my grief.”

⁴⁵ Then Pharaoh gave Joseph a new Egyptian name, Zaphenath-paneah.^[a] He also gave him a wife, whose name was Asenath. She was the daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On.^[b] So Joseph took charge of the entire land of Egypt.

Descendants of Manasseh

¹⁴ The descendants of Manasseh through his Aramean concubine included Asriel. She also bore Makir, the father of Gilead. ¹⁵ Makir found wives for^[a] Huppim and Shuppim. Makir had a sister named Maacah. One of his descendants was Zelophehad, who had only daughters.

¹⁶ Makir’s wife, Maacah, gave birth to a son whom she named Peresh. His brother’s name was Sheresh. The sons of Peresh were Ulam and Rakem. ¹⁷ The son of Ulam was Bedan. All these were considered Gileadites, descendants of Makir son of Manasseh.

¹⁸ Makir’s sister Hammoleketh gave birth to Ishhod, Abiezer, and Mahlah.

¹⁹ The sons of Shemida were Ahian, Shechem, Likhi, and Aniam.

Descendants of Ephraim

²⁰ The descendants of Ephraim were Shuthelah, Bered, Tahath, Eleadah, Tahath, ²¹ Zabad, Shuthelah, Ezer, and Elead. These two were killed trying to steal livestock from the local farmers near Gath. ²² Their father, Ephraim, mourned for them a long time, and his relatives came to comfort him. ²³ Afterward Ephraim slept with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. Ephraim named him Beriah^[b] because of the tragedy his family had suffered. ²⁴ He had a daughter named Sheerah. She built the towns of Lower and Upper Beth-horon and Uzzen-sheerah.

²⁵ The descendants of Ephraim included Rephah, Resheph, Telah, Tahan, ²⁶ Ladan, Ammihud, Elishama, ²⁷ Nun, and Joshua.

²⁸ The descendants of Ephraim lived in the territory that included Bethel and its surrounding towns to the south, Naaran to the east, Gezer and its villages to the west, and Shechem and its surrounding villages to the north as far as Ayyah and its towns. ²⁹ Along the border of Manasseh were the towns of Beth-shan,^[c] Taanach, Megiddo, Dor, and their surrounding villages. The descendants of Joseph son of Israel^[d] lived in these towns.

²³ The half-tribe of Manasseh was very large and spread through the land from Bashan to Baal-hermon, Senir, and Mount Hermon. ²⁴ These were the leaders of their clans: Epher,^[a] Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel. These men had a great reputation as mighty warriors and leaders of their clans.

²⁵ But these tribes were unfaithful to the God of their ancestors. They worshiped the gods of the nations that God had destroyed. ²⁶ So the God of Israel caused King Pul of Assyria (also known as Tiglath-pileser) to invade the land and take away the people of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh as captives. The Assyrians exiled them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the Gozan River, where they remain to this day.

¹³ Moses said this about the tribes of Joseph:

The Tribe of Manasseh

²⁸ Two clans were descended from Joseph through Manasseh and Ephraim.

²⁹ These were the clans descended from Manasseh:

³⁰ These were the subclans descended from the Gileadites:

³⁴ These were the clans of Manasseh. Their registered troops numbered 52,700.

The Tribe of Ephraim

³⁵ These were the clans descended from the sons of Ephraim:

³⁶ This was the subclan descended from the Shuthelahites:

³⁷ These were the clans of Ephraim. Their registered troops numbered 32,500.

These clans of Manasseh and Ephraim were all descendants of Joseph.

²⁰ So Jacob blessed the boys that day with this blessing: “The people of Israel will use your names when they give a blessing. They will say, ‘May God make you as prosperous as Ephraim and Manasseh.’” In this way, Jacob put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.