Genesis Chapter 48

Genesis Chapter 48
1 Again after this, one said to Joseph,
Lo, thy father is sick: then he took with
him his two sons, Manasseh and
Ephraim.
2 Also one told Jacob, and said, Behold,
thy son Joseph is come to thee, and
Israel took his strength unto him and sat
upon the bed.
3 Then Jacob said unto Joseph, God
almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the
land of Canaan, and blessed me.
4 And he said unto me, Behold, I will
make thee fruitful, and will multiply
thee, and will make a great number of
people of thee, and will give this land
unto thy seed after thee for an everlasting
possession.
5 And now thy two sons, Manasseh and
Ephraim, which are born unto thee in the
land of Egypt, before I came to thee into
Egypt, shall be mine, as Reuben and
Simeon are mine.
6 But thy linage, which thou hast
begotten after them, shall be thine: they
shall be called after the names of their
brethren in their inheritance. 7 Now
when I came from Padan, Rachel died
upon mine hand in the land of Canaan, by
the way when there was but half a day’s
journey of ground to come to Ephrath:
and I buried her there in the way to
Ephrath: the same is Beth-lehem.
8 Then Israel beheld Joseph’s sons and
said, Whose are these?
9 And Joseph said unto his father, They
are my sons, which God hath given me
here. Then he said, I pray thee, bring
them to me, that I may bless them: 10
(For the eyes of Israel were dim for age,
so that he could not well see) Then he
caused them to come to him, and he
kissed them and embraced them.
11 And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not
thought to have seen thy face: yet lo, God
hath showed me also thy seed.
12 And Joseph took them away from his
knees, and did reverence down to the
ground.
13 Then took Joseph them both, Ephraim
in his right hand toward Israel’s left
hand, and Manasseh in his left hand
toward Israel’s right hand, so he brought
them unto him.
14 But Israel stretched out his right hand,
and laid it on Ephraim’s head, which
was the younger, and his left hand upon
Manasseh’s head (directing his hands of
purpose) for Manasseh was the elder.
15 Also he blessed Joseph and said, The
God, before whom my fathers Abraham
and Isaac did walk, the God, which hath
fed me all my life long unto this day,
bless thee.
16 The Angel, which hath delivered me
from all evil, bless the children, and let
my name be named upon them, and the
name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac,
that they may grow as fish into a
multitude in the midst of the earth. 17
But when Joseph saw that his father laid
his right hand upon the head of Ephraim,
it displeased him: and he stayed his
father’s hand to remove it from
Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.
18 And Joseph said unto his father, Not
so, my father, for this is the eldest: put
thy right hand upon his head.
19 But his father refused, and said, I
know well, my son, I know well: he
shall be also a people, and he shall be
great likewise: but his younger brother
shall be greater than he, and his seed
shall be full of nations.
20 So he blessed them that day, and said,
In thee Israel shall bless, and say, God
make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh.
And he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
21 Then Israel said unto Joseph, Behold,
I die, and God shall be with you, and
bring you again unto the land of your
fathers.
22 Moreover, I have given unto thee one
portion above thy brethren, which I gat
out of the hand of the Amorite by my
sword and by my bow.