⁸ When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he said, ‘Who are these?’ ⁹ Joseph said to his father, ‘They are my sons, whom God has given me here.’ And he said, ‘Bring them to me, please, that I may bless them.’ ¹⁰ Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, and he could not see well. So Joseph brought them near him; and he kissed them and embraced them. ¹¹ Israel said to Joseph, ‘I did not expect to see your face; and here God has let me see your children also.’ ¹² Then Joseph removed them from his father’s knees,^[a] and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. ¹³ Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand towards Israel’s left, and Manasseh in his left hand towards Israel’s right, and brought them near him. ¹⁴ But Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands, for Manasseh was the firstborn. ¹⁵ He blessed Joseph, and said,

¹⁷ When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; so he took his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. ¹⁸ Joseph said to his father, ‘Not so, my father! Since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head.’ ¹⁹ But his father refused, and said, ‘I know, my son, I know; he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.’ ²⁰ So he blessed them that day, saying,

So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh. ²¹ Then Israel said to Joseph, ‘I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your ancestors. ²² I now give to you one portion^[d] more than to your brothers, the portion^[e] that I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.’

Psalm 133

The Blessedness of Unity

A Song of Ascents.

The Faith of Moses

²³ By faith Moses was hidden by his parents for three months after his birth, because they saw that the child was beautiful; and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.^{[a] 24} By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called a son of Pharaoh’s daughter, ²⁵ choosing rather to share ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. ²⁶ He considered abuse suffered for the Christ^[b] to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to the reward. ²⁷ By faith he left Egypt, unafraid of the king’s anger; for he persevered as though^[c] he saw him who is invisible. ²⁸ By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.^[d]

The Faith of Other Israelite Heroes

²⁹ By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned.