Jacob Blesses Joseph’s Sons^(A)

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, ^(B)Manasseh and Ephraim. ² And Jacob was told, “Look, your son Joseph is coming to you”; and Israel ^[a]strengthened himself and sat up on the bed. ³ Then Jacob said to Joseph: “God ^(C)Almighty appeared to me at ^(D)Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, ⁴ and said to me, ‘Behold, I will ^(E)make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a multitude of people, and ^(F)give this land to your descendants after you ^(G)as an everlasting possession.’ ⁵ And now your ^(H)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 ^[b]offspring ^[c]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, ^(I)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 ^(J)I will bless them.” ¹⁰ Now ^(K)the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. Then Joseph brought them near him, and he ^(L)kissed them and embraced them. ¹¹ And Israel said to Joseph, ^(M)“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 ^(N)laid it on Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, ^(O)guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the ^(P)firstborn. ¹⁵ And ^(Q)he blessed Joseph, and said:

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

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

The Parable of the Talents^(A)

^14 (B)“For the kingdom of heaven is ^(C)like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. ¹⁵ And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, ^(D)to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. ¹⁶ Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. ¹⁷ And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. ¹⁸ But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. ¹⁹ After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.

²⁰ “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ ²¹ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were ^(E)faithful over a few things, ^(F)I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into ^(G)the joy of your lord.’ ²² He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ ²³ His lord said to him, ^(H)‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into ^(I)the joy of your lord.’

²⁴ “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵ And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’

²⁶ “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You ^(J)wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. ²⁷ So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. ²⁸ So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.

^29 (K)‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. ³⁰ And cast the unprofitable servant ^(L)into the outer darkness. ^(M)There will be weeping and ^(N)gnashing of teeth.’

The Son of Man Will Judge the Nations

^31 (O)“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the ^[a]holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. ^32 (P)All the nations will be gathered before Him, and ^(Q)He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. ³³ And He will set the ^(R)sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. ³⁴ Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, ^(S)inherit the kingdom ^(T)prepared for you from the foundation of the world: ^35 (U)for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; ^(V)I was a stranger and you took Me in; ³⁶ I was ^(W)naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; ^(X)I was in prison and you came to Me.’

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? ³⁸ When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? ³⁹ Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ ⁴⁰ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, ^(Y)inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

⁴¹ “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ^(Z)‘Depart from Me, you cursed, ^(AA)into the everlasting fire prepared for ^(AB)the devil and his angels: ⁴² for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’

⁴⁴ “Then they also will answer ^[b]Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ ⁴⁵ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, ^(AC)inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ ⁴⁶ And ^(AD)these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”