Chapter 48

  And it came to pass after these things, that one told Joseph, Behold, thy father is sick. And he took with him his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim.  

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  And one told Jacob and said, Behold, thy son Joseph is coming to thee. And Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed.  

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  And Jacob said to Joseph, The Almighty ùGod appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,  

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  and he said to me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a company of peoples; and will give this land to thy seed after thee [for] an everlasting possession.  

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  And now thy two sons, who were born to thee in the land of Egypt before I came to thee into Egypt, shall be mine: Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon.  

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  And thy family which thou hast begotten after them shall be thine: they shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance.  

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  And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was yet a certain distance to come to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath, that is, Bethlehem.  

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  And Israel beheld Joseph's sons, and said, Who are these?  

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  And Joseph said to his father, They are my sons, whom God has given me here. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, to me, that I may bless them.  

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  But the eyes of Israel were heavy from age: he could not see. And he brought them nearer to him; and he kissed them, and embraced them.  

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  And Israel said to Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face; and behold, God has let me see also thy seed.  

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  And Joseph brought them out from his knees, and bowed down with his face to the earth.  

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  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 to him.  

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  But Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid [it] on Ephraim's head -- now he was the younger -- and his left hand on Manasseh's head; guiding his hands intelligently, for Manasseh was the firstborn.  

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  And he blessed Joseph, and said, The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God that shepherded me all my life long to this day,  

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  the Angel that redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named upon them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the land!  

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  When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it was evil in his eyes; and he took hold of his father's hand to remove it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head.  

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  And Joseph said to his father, Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn: put thy right hand on his head.  

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  But his father refused and said, I know, my son, I know: he also will become a people, and he also will be great; but truly his younger brother will be greater than he; and his seed will become the fulness of nations.  

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  And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee will Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and Manasseh! And he set Ephraim before Manasseh.  

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  And Israel said to Joseph, Behold, I die; and God will be with you, and bring you again to the land of your fathers.  

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  And I have given to thee one tract [of land] above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.  

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