48:1 And it came to pass after these things, that one said to Joseph, Look, your father is sick: and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
48:2 And one told Jacob, and said, Look, your son Joseph comes to you: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat on the bed.
48:3 And Jacob said to Joseph, God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,
48:4 and said to me, Look, 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 seed after you for an everlasting possession.
48:5 And now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you into Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh, even as Reuben and Simeon, will be mine.
48:6 And your issue, that you beget after them, will be yours; they will be called after the name of their brothers in their inheritance.
48:7 And as for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died to my sorrow in the land of Canaan in the way, when there was still some distance to come to Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way to Ephrath (the same is Beth-lehem).
48:8 And Israel saw Joseph's sons, and said, Who are these?
48:9 And Joseph said to his father, They are my sons, whom God has given me here. And he said, Bring them, I pray you, to me, and I will bless them.
48:10 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.
48:11 And Israel said to Joseph, I had not thought to see your face: and, look, God has let me see your seed also.
48:12 And Joseph brought them out from between his knees; and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.
48:13 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.
48:14 And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it on Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly; for 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 fed me all my life long to this day,
48:16 the angel who has 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.
48:17 And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it was evil in his eyes: and he held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head.
48:18 And Joseph said to his father, Not so, my father; for this is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.
48:19 And his father refused, and said, I know, my son, I know. He also will become a people, and he also will be great: nevertheless his younger brother will be greater than he, and his seed will become a multitude of nations.
48:20 And he blessed them that day, saying, In you [Joseph] will Israel bless, saying, God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
48:21 And Israel said to Joseph, Look, I die: but God will be with you+, and bring you+ again to the land of your+ fathers.
48:22 Moreover I have given to you one portion above your brothers, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.