1   The time came when Joseph was told that his father was ill, so he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 2   Jacob heard that his son Joseph was coming to him, and he ^note summoned his strength and sat up on the bed. 3   Jacob said to Joseph, ‘God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in Canaan and blessed me. 4   He said to me, “I will make you fruitful and increase your descendants until they become a host of nations. I will give this land to your descendants after you as a perpetual possession.” 5   Now, your two sons, who were born to you in Egypt before I came here, shall be counted as my sons; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine as Reuben and Simeon are. 6   Any children born to you after them shall be counted as yours, but in respect of their tribal territory they shall be reckoned under their elder brothers' names. 7   As I was coming from Paddan-aram ^note I was bereaved of Rachel your mother ^note on the way, in Canaan, whilst there was still some distance to go to Ephrath, ^note and I buried her there by the road to Ephrath, ^note that is Bethlehem.’

8    9   When Israel saw Joseph's sons, he said, ‘Who are these?’ Joseph replied to his father, ‘They are my sons whom God has given me here.’ Israel said, ‘Bring them to me, I beg you, so that I may take them on my knees.’ ^note 10   Now Israel's eyes were dim with age, and he could not

Joseph in Egypt see; so Joseph brought the boys close to his father, and he kissed them and embraced them. 11   He said to Joseph, ‘I had not expected to see your face again, and now God has granted me to see your sons also.’ 12   Joseph took them from his father's knees and bowed to the ground. 13   Then he took the two of them, Ephraim on his right at Israel's left and Manasseh on his left at Israel's right, and brought them close to him. 14   Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim's head, although he was the younger, and, crossing his hands, laid his left hand on Manasseh's head; but Manasseh was the elder. 15   He blessed Joseph and said:

  ‘The God in whose presence my forefathers lived,
  my forefathers Abraham and Isaac,
  the God who has been my shepherd all my life until this day,
   16   the angel who ransomed me from all misfortune,
  may he bless these boys;
  they shall be called by my name,
  and by that of my forefathers, Abraham and Isaac;
  may they grow into a great people on earth.’

17   When Joseph saw that his father was laying his right hand on Ephraim's head, he was displeased; so he took hold of his father's hand to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's. 18   He said, ‘That is not right, my father. 19   This is the elder; lay your right hand on his head.’ But his father refused; he said, ‘I know, my son, I know. He too shall become a people; he too shall become great, but his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall be a whole nation in themselves.’ 20   That day he blessed them and said:

  ‘When a blessing is pronounced in Israel,
  men shall use your names ^note and say,
  God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh’,

21   thus setting Ephraim before Manasseh. Then Israel said to Joseph, ‘I am dying. God will be with you and will bring you back to the land of your fathers. 22   I give you one ridge of land ^note more than your brothers: I took it from the Amorites with my sword and my bow.’

Previous section

Next section