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.