Genesis 48

Jacob Blesses Ephraim and Manassehⓘ

Jacob adopts Ephraim and Manasseh¹Some time later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he set out with his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. ²When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel rallied his strength and sat up in bed.

³Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty^a appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there He blessed me ⁴and told me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you; I will make you a multitude of peoples, and will give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.’

⁵And 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. ⁶Any children born to you after them shall be yours, and they shall be called by the names of their brothers in the territory they inherit.

⁷Now as for me, when I was returning from Paddan,^b to my sorrow Rachel died along the way in the land of Canaan, some distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).

Jacob blesses the boys, crossing his hands⁸When Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he asked, “Who are these?”

⁹Joseph said to his father, “They are the sons God has given me in this place.”

So Jacob said, “Please bring them to me, that I may bless them.”

¹⁰Now Israelʼs eyesight was poor because of old age; he could hardly see. Joseph brought his sons to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them.

¹¹“I never expected to see your face again,” Israel said to Joseph, “but now God has let me see your children as well.”

¹²Then Joseph removed his sons from his fatherʼs knees and bowed facedown.

¹³And Joseph took both of them—with Ephraim in his right hand toward Israelʼs left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israelʼs right hand—and brought them close to him. ¹⁴But Israel stretched out his right hand and put it on the head of Ephraim, the younger; and crossing his hands, he put his left on Manassehʼs head, although Manasseh was the firstborn. ¹⁵Then he blessed Joseph and said:

Joseph objects; Jacob explains and looks ahead¹⁷When Joseph saw that his father had placed his right hand on Ephraimʼs head, he was displeased and took his fatherʼs hand to move it from Ephraimʼs head to Manassehʼs. ¹⁸“Not so, my father!” Joseph said. “This one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”

¹⁹But his father refused. “I know, my son, I know!” he said. “He too shall become a people, and he too shall be great; nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.”

²⁰So that day Jacob blessed them and said:

So he put Ephraim before Manasseh.

²¹Then Israel said to Joseph, “Look, I am about to die, but God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers. ²²And to you, as one who is above your brothers, I give the ridge of land^d that I took from the Amorites with my sword and bow.”