Jacob Blesses Ephraim and Manasseh
1 Some time later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he set out with his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 2When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel rallied his strength and sat up in bed.
3 Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty* appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there He blessed me 4and told me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you; I will make you a multitude of peoples, and will give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.’
5 And now your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here shall be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine. 6Any children born to you after them shall be yours, and they shall be called by the names of their brothers in the territory they inherit.
7 Now as for me, when I was returning from Paddan,* to my sorrow Rachel died along the way in the land of Canaan, some distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).
8 When Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he asked, “Who are these?”
9 Joseph said to his father, “They are the sons God has given me in this place.”
So Jacob said, “Please bring them to me, that I may bless them.”
10 Now Israel’s eyesight was poor because of old age; he could hardly see. Joseph brought his sons to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them.
11 “I never expected to see your face again,” Israel said to Joseph, “but now God has let me see your children as well.”
12 Then Joseph removed his sons from his father’s knees and bowed facedown.
13 And Joseph took both of them — with Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand — and brought them close to him. 14But Israel stretched out his right hand and put it on the head of Ephraim, the younger; and crossing his hands, he put his left on Manasseh’s head, although Manasseh was the firstborn. 15Then he blessed Joseph and said: