Shared Word Translation
Genesis 48
Jacob Blesses Ephraim and Manasseh
After these things, Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is ill.” So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. And when Jacob was told, “Behold, your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel gathered his strength and sat up in bed.
Then Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples and will give this land to your offspring after you as an everlasting possession.’ And now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine. Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are. But the children born to you after them shall be yours. They shall be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. As for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died to my sorrow in the land of Canaan on the journey, when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath. And I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”
Joseph Presents His Sons
When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?” Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” And he said, “Bring them to me, please, that I may bless them.” Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. So Joseph brought them near to him, and he kissed them and embraced them. And Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face, and behold, God has let me see your offspring also.”
Then Joseph removed them from his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near him. But Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it upon the head of Ephraim, though he was the younger, and his left hand upon the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands, though Manasseh was the firstborn.
The Blessing
And he blessed Joseph and said,
“The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,
the God who has shepherded me all my life long to this day,
the angel who has redeemed me from all evil,
bless the boys.
And in them let my name be carried on,
and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac.
And let them multiply greatly
in the midst of the earth.”
When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him. So he took hold of his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. And Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.” But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.”
So he blessed them that day, saying,
“By you Israel will pronounce blessing, saying,
‘May God make you like Ephraim and like Manasseh.’”
Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh.
Jacob’s Final Words to Joseph
Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers. Moreover, I have given to you one mountain slope more than to your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.”