48:1  And it came to pass after these things, that [one] told
Joseph, Behold, thy father [is] sick: and he took with him his
two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
 48:2  And [one] told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph
cometh unto thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon
the bed.
 48:3  And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto
me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,
 48:4  And said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and
multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people;
and will give this land to thy seed after thee [for] an
everlasting possession.
 48:5  And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were
born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee
into Egypt, [are] mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be
mine.
 48:6  And thy issue, which thou begettest after them, shall be
thine, [and] shall be called after the name of their brethren
in their inheritance.
 48:7  And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died by me
in the land of Canaan in the way, when yet [there was] but a
little way to come unto Ephrath: and I buried her there in the
way of Ephrath; the same [is] Bethlehem.
 48:8  And Israel beheld Joseph's sons, and said, Who [are]
these?
 48:9  And Joseph said unto his father, They [are] my sons,
whom God hath given me in this [place]. And he said, Bring
them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them.
 48:10  Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, [so that] he
could not see. And he brought them near unto him; and he kissed
them, and embraced them.
 48:11  And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see
thy face: and, lo, God hath showed me also thy seed.
 48:12  And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and
he bowed himself with his face to the earth.
 48:13  And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand
toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward
Israel's right hand, and brought [them] near unto him.
 48:14  And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid [it]
upon Ephraim's head, who [was] the younger, and his left hand
upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh
[was] the firstborn.
 48:15  And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my
fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my
life long unto this day,
 48:16  The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the
lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my
fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude
in the midst of the earth.
 48:17  And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand
upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his
father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's
head.
 48:18  And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for
this [is] the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.
 48:19  And his father refused, and said, I know [it], my son,
I know [it]: he also shall become a people, and he also shall
be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than
he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.
 48:20  And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall
Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh:
and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
 48:21  And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God
shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your
fathers.
 48:22  Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy
brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my
sword and with my bow.