Israel’s Last Days

48 Now it came about after these things that ^[a]Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is sick.” So he took his two sons ^(A)Manasseh and Ephraim with him. ² When ^[b]it was told to Jacob, “Behold, your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel ^[c]collected his strength and sat ^[d]up in the bed. ³ Then Jacob said to Joseph, “^[e](B)God Almighty appeared to me at ^(C)Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, ⁴ and He said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and numerous, and I will make you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your ^[f]descendants after you for ^(D)an everlasting possession.’ ⁵ Now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; ^(E)Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as ^(F)Reuben and Simeon are. ⁶ But your offspring that ^[g]have been born after them shall be yours; they shall be called by the ^[h]names of their brothers in their inheritance. ⁷ Now as for me, when I came from ^(G)Paddan, ^(H)Rachel died, ^[i]to my sorrow, in the land of Canaan on the journey, when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”

⁸ When Israel ^(I)saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?” ⁹ Joseph said to his father, “^(J)They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” So he said, “Bring them to me, please, that ^(K)I may bless them.” ¹⁰ Now ^(L)the eyes of Israel were so dim from age that he could not see. Then ^[j]Joseph brought them close to him, and he ^(M)kissed them and embraced them. ¹¹ Israel said to Joseph, “I never ^[k]expected to see your face, and behold, God has let me see your ^[l]children as well.” ¹² Then Joseph ^[m]took them from his knees, and ^(N)bowed with his face to the ground. ¹³ Joseph took them both, Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel’s left, and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel’s right, and brought them close to 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 Manasseh’s head, ^[n]crossing his hands, ^[o]although ^(O)Manasseh was the firstborn. ¹⁵ He blessed Joseph, and said,

¹⁷ When Joseph saw that his father ^(U)laid his right hand on Ephraim’s head, it displeased him; and he grasped 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, for this one is the firstborn. Place your right hand on his head.” ¹⁹ But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know; he also will become a people and he also will be great. However, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and ^(V)his ^[s]descendants shall become a ^[t]multitude of nations.” ^20 (W)He blessed them that day, saying,

Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh. ²¹ Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but ^(X)God will be with you, and ^(Y)bring you back to the land of your fathers. ²² I give you one ^[u]portion more than your brothers, ^(Z)which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow.”

Mary Visits Elizabeth

³⁹ Now ^[a]at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to ^(A)the hill country, to a city of Judah, ⁴⁰ and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was ^(B)filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴² And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! ⁴³ And ^[b]how has it happened to me, that the mother of ^(C)my Lord would come to me? ⁴⁴ For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. ⁴⁵ And ^(D)blessed is she who ^[c]believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her ^[d]by the Lord.”

The Magnificat

⁴⁶ And Mary said:

⁵⁶ And Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned to her home.

John Is Born

⁵⁷ Now the time ^[l]had come for Elizabeth to give birth, and she gave birth to a son. ⁵⁸ Her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had ^[m](Q)displayed His great mercy toward her; and they were rejoicing with her.

⁵⁹ And it happened that on ^(R)the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to call him Zacharias, ^[n]after his father. ⁶⁰ But his mother answered and said, “No indeed; but ^(S)he shall be called John.” ⁶¹ And they said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by that name.” ⁶² And they ^(T)made signs to his father, as to what he wanted him called. ⁶³ And he asked for a tablet and wrote as follows, “^(U)His name is John.” And they were all astonished. ^64 (V)And at once his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he began to speak in praise of God. ⁶⁵ Fear came on all those living around them; and all these matters were being talked about in all ^(W)the hill country of Judea. ⁶⁶ All who heard them kept them in mind, saying, “What then will this child turn out to be?” For ^(X)the hand of the Lord was certainly with him.

Zacharias’s Prophecy

⁶⁷ And his father Zacharias ^(Y)was filled with the Holy Spirit, and ^(Z)prophesied, saying:

^80 (AU)And the child continued to grow and to become strong in spirit, and he lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel.