Genesis 48

Some time later Joseph was told, “Your father's ill.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him.

And Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you.” And Israel gathered his strength and sat up on the bed.

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

and said to me, ‘I'm going to make you fruitful and increase your numbers. I'll make you into a company of peoples, and I'll give this land to your descendants after you as a permanent holding.’

Now then, your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came here will be mine. Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are.

Any children born to you after them will be yours, and in the territory they inherit they'll be counted under the names of their brothers.

As for me, when I came back from Paddan, Rachel died on me in Canaan, on the way, while there was still some distance to go to Ephrath. And I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath.” That's Bethlehem.

And Israel saw Joseph's sons and said, “Who are these?”

And Joseph said to his father, “They're my sons, the ones God has given me here.” And he said, “Bring them to me, so I can bless them.”

Now Israel's eyes were failing with age, and he could hardly see. So Joseph brought them close to him, and he kissed them and put his arms around them.

And Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again, and now God has let me see your children as well.”

Then Joseph took them from between his father's knees and bowed down with his face to the ground.

And Joseph took the two of them — Ephraim on his right, toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh on his left, toward Israel's right hand — and brought them close to him.

But Israel put out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim's head, though he was the younger, and crossing his arms he put his left hand on Manasseh's head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn.

And he blessed Joseph and said, “May the God my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked before, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,

the Angel who has kept me from all harm — may He bless these boys. May they be called by my name and by the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they grow into a multitude on the earth.”

When Joseph saw his father putting his right hand on Ephraim's head, he wasn't pleased. So he took his father's hand to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's.

And Joseph said to him, “Not that way, father. This one's the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.”

But his father refused. “I know, son. I know,” he said. “He'll become a people too, and he'll be great. But his younger brother will be greater than him, and his descendants will become a group of nations.”

And he blessed them that day and said, “In your name Israel will pronounce this blessing: ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’” So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.

And Israel said to Joseph, “I'm about to die, but God will be with you and take you back to the land of your fathers.

And to you, as one who is over your brothers, I give the ridge of land I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow.”