48:1 Now it came about after these things that ①Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is sick.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him.
▷ ①Lit one said to Joseph
48:2 When ①it was told to Jacob, “Behold, your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel ②collected his strength and sat ③up in the bed.
▷ ①Lit one told Jacob and said ②Lit strengthened himself ③Lit upon the bed
48:3 Then Jacob said to Joseph, “ ①God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me,
▷ ①Heb El Shaddai
48:4 and He said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and numerous, and I will make you a multitude of peoples, and will give this land to your ①descendants after you as an everlasting possession.’
▷ ①Lit seed
48:5 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.
48:6 But your children that you have fathered after them shall be yours; they shall be called by the ①names of their brothers in their inheritance.
▷ ①Lit name
48:7 Now as for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died, ①to my sorrow, in the land of Canaan on the journey, when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath. I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”
▷ ①Lit upon me
48:8 When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?”
48:9 And Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” So he said, “Bring them to me, please, so that I may bless them.”
48:10 Now the eyes of Israel were so ①dim from age that he could not see. And ②Joseph brought them close to him, and he kissed them and embraced them.
▷ ①Lit dull ②Lit he
48:11 And Israel said to Joseph, “I never ①expected to see your face, and behold, God has let me see your ②children as well!”
▷ ①Lit assumed ②Lit seed
48:12 Then Joseph ①took them from his knees, and bowed with his face to the ground.
▷ ①Lit made them come out
48:13 And Joseph took them both, 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.
48:14 But Israel reached out his right hand and placed it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, crossing his hands, although Manasseh was the firstborn.
48:15 And he blessed Joseph, and said,
“The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,
The God who has been my shepherd ①all my life to this day,
▷ ①Lit from the continuance of me
48:16 The angel who has redeemed me from all evil,
Bless the boys;
And may my name ①live on in them,
And the ②names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac;
And may they grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”
▷ ①Lit be called ②Lit name
48:17 When Joseph saw that his father placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, it displeased him; and he grasped his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.
48:18 And Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn. Place your right hand on his head.”
48:19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know; he also will become a people and he also will be great. However, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his ①descendants shall become ②a multitude of nations.”
▷ ①Lit seed ②Lit the fullness
48:20 So he blessed them that day, saying,
“By you Israel will pronounce blessing, saying,
‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh!’ ” And so he put Ephraim before Manasseh.
48:21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you, and bring you back to the land of your fathers.
48:22 And I give you one ①portion more than your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow.”
▷ ①Or ridge; lit shoulder; Heb Shechem