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 cometh to thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed.  

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

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  And said to me, Behold I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee, for an everlasting possession.  

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

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  And thy issue, which thou begettest after them, shall be thine, and 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, in the way, when yet there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath, the same is Beth-lehem.  

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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 hath given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, to me, and I will bless them.  

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  (Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see:) And he brought them near 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 lo, God hath shown me also thy seed.  

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

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  And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand towards Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand towards Israel's right hand, and brought them near to him.  

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  And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands by design; for Manasseh was the first-born.  

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  And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God who hath fed me all my life long to this day,  

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  The angel who hath redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac: and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.  

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  And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he lifted 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 first-born; put thy right hand upon his head.  

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  And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it; he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.  

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

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

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  Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.  

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