48:1 After these things occurred
Joseph was told:
Look, your father is not well.
So he went to him
with his two sons
Manasseh and Ephraim.
48:2 When Jacob was told that
His son Joseph has come to you
and sat up in his bed.
48:3 Then Jacob said to Joseph:
God Almighty appeared to me at Luz
in
48:4 He said to me:
Surely you will become prosperous
and will have a multitude of followers.
Your followers will be given
a world on the other side
as an eternal inheritance.
48:5 Jacob continued to Joseph:
About your two sons born to you
while in the
before I traveled to see you there:
Ephraim and Manasseh are my own
just as Reuben and Simeon are.
48:6 But the children you fathered
after them shall be yours.
They will be accounted for
with their brothers in the inheritance.
48:7 As I was returning from Paddan
Rachel passed away to my sorrow
in
some distance from Ephrath.
I buried her enroute to Ephrath (
48:8 When Israel saw Joseph’s sons
he asked who are these?
48:9 Joseph responded to his father:
These are my sons
whom God has given me here.
Then
Please bring them to me
so that I may bless them.
48:10 Now the eyes of
were so blinded from age
that he could not see.
So Joseph brought them near
and he kissed and embraced them.
48:11 Then Israel said to Joseph:
I never expected to see you again.
But God let me see your children too.
48:12 Then Joseph took them off his knees
and bowed his head to the ground.
48:13 Then Joseph took both Ephraim
with his right hand to
and Manasseh with his left hand
toward
and pulled them close to him.
48:14 But Israel reached out his right hand
and placed it on the head of Ephraim
who was the youngest
and his left hand on Manasseh’s head
to cross over his hands
though Manasseh was the firstborn.
48:15 Then he blessed Joseph saying:
The God with whom my teachers
Abraham and Isaac walked
God who has been my shepherd
all my life to this day
48:16 May the angel
who redeemed me
from wickedness
bless these boys.
May my name
live on in them
with the names of my teachers
Abraham and Isaac.
And may they grow
and become successful
within this world.
48:17 When Joseph saw his father
had put his right hand
on Ephraim’s head
it bothered him.
So he took his father’s hand
and moved it from Ephraim
to Manasseh’s head.
48:18 Then Joseph said to his father:
Father this is not correct
as this one is the firstborn.
Place your right hand on his head.
48:19 But his father refused saying:
I know my son I know
he also will have a following
and he also will be successful.
But his younger brother
shall be more successful than he
and his followers will be
a fulfilled people.
48:20
I bless you this day.
May God ordain you
Ephraim and Manasseh.
Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh.
48:21 Then Israel said to Joseph:
Surely I am about to die
but God will be with you
and bring you back
to the world of your teachers.
48:22 I give you a bit more
than your brothers
of what I took from Amorites
with my sword and my bow.
