Genesis 48 (New American Standard)
View In My BibleIsrael's Last Days
1 Now it came about after these things that aJoseph was told, "Behold, your father is sick." So he took his two sons 1Manasseh and Ephraim with him. 2 When bit was told to Jacob, "Behold, your son Joseph has come to you," Israel ccollected his strength and sat dup in the bed. 3 Then Jacob said to Joseph, "e2God Almighty appeared to me at 3Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, 4 and He said to me, 'Behold, I will make you fruitful and numerous, and I will make you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your fdescendants after you for 4an everlasting possession.' 5 "Now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; 5Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as 6Reuben and Simeon are. 6 "But your offspring that ghave been born after them shall be yours; they shall be called by the hnames of their brothers in their inheritance. 7 "Now as for me, when I came from 7Paddan, 8Rachel died, ito my sorrow, in the land of Canaan on the journey, when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath ; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem )." 8 When Israel 9saw Joseph's sons, he said, "Who are these ?" 9 Joseph said to his father, "10They are my sons, whom God has given me here." So he said, "Bring them to me, please, that 11I may bless them." 10 Now 12the eyes of Israel were so dim from age that he could not see. Then jJoseph brought them close to him, and he 13kissed them and embraced them. 11 Israel said to Joseph, "I never kexpected to see your face, and behold, God has let me see your lchildren as well." 12 Then Joseph mtook them from his knees, and 14bowed with his face to the ground. 13 Joseph took them both, Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel's left, and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel's right, and brought them close to him. 14 But Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh's head, ncrossing his hands, oalthough 15Manasseh was the firstborn. 15 He blessed Joseph, and said, "16The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, 17The God who has been my shepherd pall my life to this day, 16 18The angel who has redeemed me from all evil, 19Bless the lads ; And may my name qlive on in them, And the rnames of my fathers Abraham and Isaac ; And 20may they grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth." 17 When Joseph saw that his father 21laid his right hand on Ephraim's head, it displeased him; and he grasped his father's hand to remove it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. 18 Joseph said to his father, "Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn. Place your right hand on his head." 19 But his father refused and said, "I know, my son, I know ; he also will become a people and he also will be great. However, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and 22his sdescendants shall become a tmultitude of nations." 20 23He blessed them that day, saying, "By you Israel will pronounce blessing, saying, 'May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh !' " Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh. 21 Then Israel said to Joseph, "Behold, I am about to die, but 24God will be with you, and 25bring you back to the land of your fathers. 22 "I give you one uportion more than your brothers, 26which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow."New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, California. All rights reserved. (New American Standard Version - Holy Bible)
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