⁵ And now your ^(A)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. ⁶ Your ^[a]offspring ^[b]whom you beget after them shall be yours; they will be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. ⁷ But as for me, when I came from Padan, ^(B)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).”

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 ^(C)I will bless them.” ¹⁰ Now ^(D)the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. Then Joseph brought them near him, and he ^(E)kissed them and embraced them. ¹¹ And Israel said to Joseph, ^(F)“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 ^(G)laid it on Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, ^(H)guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the ^(I)firstborn. ¹⁵ And ^(J)he blessed Joseph, and said:

¹⁷ Now when Joseph saw that his father ^(O)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, ^(P)“I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly ^(Q)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, ^(R)“By you Israel will bless, saying, ‘May God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh!’ ” And thus he set Ephraim before Manasseh.

The Family of Reuben^(A)

5 Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel—^(B)he was indeed the firstborn, but because he ^(C)defiled his father’s bed, ^(D)his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel, so that the genealogy is not listed according to the birthright; ² yet ^(E)Judah prevailed over his brothers, and from him came a ^(F)ruler, although ^[a]the birthright was Joseph’s—