Genesis 48; Genesis 49; Genesis 50

1 After these things, it was told Joseph that his father was sick; and he set out to go to him, taking his two sons Manasses and Ephraim.

2 And it was told the old man: Behold thy son Joseph cometh to thee. And being strengthened, he sat on his bed.

3 And when Joseph was come in to him, he said: God almighty appeared to me at Luza, which is in the land of Chanaan, and he blessed me,

4 And said: I will cause thee to increase and multiply, and I will make of thee a multitude of people: and I will give this land to thee, and to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.

5 So thy two sons, who were born to thee in the land of Egypt before I came hither to thee, shall be mine: Ephraim and Manasses shall be reputed to me as Ruben and Simeon.

6 But the rest whom thou shalt have after them, shall be thine, and shall be called by the name of their brethren in their possessions.

7 For, when I came out of Mesopotamia, Rachel died from me in the land of Chanaan in the very journey, and it was spring time: and I was going to Ephrata, and I buried her near the way of Ephrata, which by another name is called Bethlehem.

8 Then seeing his sons, he said to him: Who are these?

9 He answered: They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said: Bring them to me, that I may bless them.

10 For Israel’s eyes were dim by reason of his great age, and he could not see clearly. And when they were brought to him, he kissed and embraced them,

11 And said to his son: I am not deprived of seeing thee; moreover God hath shewn me thy seed.

12 And when Joseph had taken them from his father’s lap, he bowed down with his face to the ground.

13 And he set Ephraim on his right hand, that is, towards the left hand of Israel; but Manasses on his left hand, to wit, towards his father’s right hand, and brought them near to him.

14 But he, stretching forth his right hand, put it upon the head of Ephraim, the younger brother; and the left upon the head of Manasses, who was the elder, changing his hands.

15 And Jacob blessed the sons of Joseph, and said: God, in whose sight my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, God that feedeth me from my youth until this day:

16 The angel that delivereth me from all evils, bless these boys: and let my name be called upon them, and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and may they grow into a multitude upon the earth.

17 And Joseph seeing that his father had put his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, was much displeased: and taking his father’s hand, he tried to lift it from Ephraim’s head, and to remove it to the head of Manasses.

18 And he said to his father: It should not be so, my father; for this is the firstborn, put thy right hand upon his head.

19 But he refusing, said: I know, my son, I know: and this also shall become a people, and shall be multiplied; but his younger brother shall be greater than he; and his seed shall grow into nations.

20 And he blessed them at that time, saying: In thee shall Israel be blessed, and it shall be said: God do to thee as to Ephraim, and as to Manasses. And he set Ephraim before Manasses.

21 And he said to Joseph, his son: Behold I die, and God will be with you, and will bring you back into the land of your fathers.

22 I give thee a portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorrhite with my sword and bow.

1 And Jacob called his sons, and said to them: Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you the things that shall befall you in the last days.

2 Gather yourselves together, and hear, O ye sons of Jacob, hearken to Israel, your father:

3 Ruben, my firstborn, thou art my strength, and the beginning of my sorrow; excelling in gifts, greater in command.

4 Thou art poured out as water, grow thou not; because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed, and didst defile his couch.

5 Simeon and Levi brethren: vessels of iniquity waging war.

6 Let not my soul go into their counsel, nor my glory be in their assembly: because in their fury they slew a man, and in their selfwill they undermined a wall.

7 Cursed be their fury, because it was stubborn: and their wrath, because it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and will scatter them in Israel.

8 Juda, thee shall thy brethren praise: thy hand shall be on the necks of thy enemies; the sons of thy father shall bow down to thee.

9 Juda is a lion’s whelp: to the prey, my son, thou art gone up: resting thou hast couched as a lion, and as a lioness, who shall rouse him?

10 The sceptre shall not be taken away from Juda, nor a ruler from his thigh, till he come that is to be sent, and he shall be the expectation of nations.

11 Tying his foal to the vineyard, and his ass, O my son, to the vine. He shall wash his robe in wine, and his garment in the blood of the grape.

12 His eyes are more beautiful than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.

13 Zabulon shall dwell on the seashore, and in the road of ships, reaching as far as Sidon.

14 Issachar shall be a strong ass, lying down between the borders.

15 He saw rest that it was good: and the land that it was excellent: and he bowed his shoulder to carry, and became a servant under tribute.

16 Dan shall judge his people like another tribe in Israel.

17 Let Dan be a snake in the way, a serpent in the path, that biteth the horse’s heels, that his rider may fall backward.

18 I will look for thy salvation, O Lord.

19 Gad, being girded, shall fight before him: and he himself shall be girded backward.

20 Aser, his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield dainties to kings.

21 Nephthali, a hart let loose, and giving words of beauty.

22 Joseph is a growing son, a growing son and comely to behold: the daughters run to and fro upon the wall;

23 But they that held darts, provoked him, and quarrelled with him, and envied him.

24 His bow rested upon the strong, and the bands of his arms and his hands were loosed, by the hands of the mighty one of Jacob: thence he came forth a pastor, the stone of Israel.

25 The God of thy father shall be thy helper, and the Almighty shall bless thee with the blessings of heaven above, with the blessings of the deep that lieth beneath, with the blessings of the breasts and of the womb.

26 The blessings of thy father are strengthened with the blessings of his fathers: until the desire of the everlasting hills should come: may they be upon the head of Joseph, and upon the crown of the Nazarite among his brethren.

27 Benjamin a ravenous wolf, in the morning shall eat the prey, and in the evening shall divide the spoil.

28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: these things their father spoke to them, and he blessed every one with their proper blessings.

29 And he charged them, saying: I am now going to be gathered to my people: bury me with my fathers in the double cave, which is in the field of Ephron the Hethite,

30 Over against Mambre, in the land of Chanaan, which Abraham bought together with the field, of Ephron the Hethite, for a possession to bury in.

31 There they buried him, and Sara his wife: there was Isaac buried with Rebecca, his wife: there also Lia doth lie buried.

32 (49-31)

33 (49-32) And when he had ended the commandments, wherewith he instructed his sons, he drew up his feet upon the bed, and died: and he was gathered to his people.

1 And when Joseph saw this, he fell upon his father’s face, weeping and kissing him.

2 And he commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father.

3 And while they were fulfilling his commands, there passed forty days: for this was the manner with bodies that were embalmed, and Egypt mourned for him seventy days.

4 And the time of the mourning being expired, Joseph spoke to the family of Pharao: If I have found favour in your sight, speak in the ears of Pharao:

5 For my father made me swear to him, saying: Behold I die; thou shalt bury me in my sepulchre which I have digged for myself in the land of Chanaan. So I will go up and bury my father, and return.

6 And Pharao said to him: Go up and bury thy father according as he made thee swear.

7 So he went up, and there went with him all the ancients of Pharao’s house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt.

8 And the house of Joseph with his brethren, except their children, and their flocks and herds, which they left in the land of Gessen.

9 He had also in his train chariots and horsemen: and it was a great company.

10 And they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is situated beyond the Jordan: where celebrating the exequies with a great and vehement lamentation, they spent full seven days.

11 And when the inhabitants of Chanaan saw this, they said: This is a great mourning to the Egyptians. And therefore the name of that place was called, The mourning of Egypt.

12 So the sons of Jacob did as he had commanded them.

13 And carrying him into the land of Chanaan, they buried him in the double cave, which Abraham had bought together with the field for a possession of a burying place, of Ehpron, the Hethite, over against Mambre.

14 And Joseph returned into Egypt with his brethren, and all that were in his company, after he had buried his father.

15 Now he being dead, his brethren were afraid, and talked one with another: Lest perhaps he should remember the wrong he suffered, and requite us all the evil that we did to him.

16 And they sent a message to him, saying: Thy father commanded us before he died,

17 That we should say thus much to thee from him: I beseech thee to forget the wickedness of thy brethren, and the sin and malice they practised against thee: we also pray thee, to forgive the servants of the God of thy father this wickedness. And when Joseph heard this, he wept.

18 And his brethren came to him; and worshipping prostrate on the ground, they said: We are thy servants.

19 And he answered them: Fear not: can we resist the will of God?

20 You thought evil against me: but God turned it into good, that he might exalt me, as at present you see, and might save many people.

21 Fear not: I will feed you and your children. And he comforted them, and spoke gently and mildly.

22 And he dwelt in Egypt with all his father’s house; and lived a hundred and ten years.

23 (50-22) And he saw the children of Ephraim to the third generation. The children also of Machir, the sons of Manasses, were born on Joseph’s knees.

24 (50-23) After which he told his brethren: God will visit you after my death, and will make you go up out of this land, to the land which he swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

25 (50-24) And he made them swear to him, saying: God will visit you, carry my bones with you out of this place:

26 (50-25) And he died, being a hundred and ten years old. And being embalmed, he was laid in a coffin in Egypt.