Jacob Blesses Ephraim and Manasseh
1. Some time later, Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he set out with his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
2. When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed.
3. Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there He blessed me
4. and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you; I will make of you a company of peoples, and I will give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.’
5. And now your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here shall be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine.
6. Any children born to you after them will be yours; in the inheritance they receive they will bear the names of their brothers.
7. As I was returning from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died in the land of Canaan while we were still on the way, a little distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).
8. When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he asked, “Who are these?”
9. “They are the sons God has given me here,” Joseph replied to his father.
Then Israel said, “Bring them to me so that I may bless them.”
10. Now Israel’s eyes were dim with age, and he could hardly see. So Joseph brought his sons close to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them.
11. Then Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again, but now God has even let me see your offspring.”
12. So Joseph took them from his knees and bowed with his face to the ground.
13. And Joseph took both of them, 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 reached out his right hand and put it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn.
15. Then he blessed Joseph and said:
“May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,
the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,
16. the Angel who has redeemed me from all harm,
may He bless these boys.
And may they be called by my name
and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac,
and may they grow into a multitude upon the earth.”
17. When Joseph saw that his father had placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, he was displeased and tried to move it to Manasseh’s head.
18. “No, my father,” Joseph said, “this one is the firstborn. Place your right hand on his head.”
19. But his father refused. “I know, my son, I know,” he said. “Manasseh will also become a great nation, but his younger brother will be greater than he, and his offspring will become a multitude of nations.”
20. So Jacob blessed them that day and said:
“By you Israel will pronounce blessing, saying,
‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’”
Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh.
21. Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you back to the land of your fathers.
22. Moreover, I have given to you one portion more than to your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and my bow.”