1Now it happened after these things that someone said to Joseph, “Look, your father is ill.” So he took his two sons with him, Manasseh and Ephraim.
2And it was told to Jacob, “Look, your son Joseph has come to you.” Then Israel gathered his strength and sat up on the bed.
3And Jacob said to Joseph, “El Shaddai appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and he blessed me.
4He said to me, ‘Behold, I am about to make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make you into a company of peoples, and I will give this land to your offspring after you as an everlasting possession.’
5And now your two sons who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, like Reuben and Simeon.
6But the offspring you father after them will be yours; they will be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance.
7As for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died on me in the land of Canaan on the way, while there was still some distance to go to reach Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).
8When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?”
9And Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” He said, “Bring them to me, please, that I may bless them.”
10Now Israel’s eyes were heavy with age; he could not see. So he brought them near to him, and he kissed them and embraced them.
11And Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face, and behold, God has let me see even your offspring.”
12Then Joseph took them from between his knees, and he bowed down with his face to the ground.
13And Joseph took the two of them, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right, and he brought them near to him.
14But Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim’s head, though he was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, crossing his hands, for Manasseh was the firstborn.
15And he blessed Joseph and said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,
16the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, may he bless the boys; and may my name be called upon them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they multiply into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”
17When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on Ephraim’s head, it was displeasing in his eyes, and he took hold of his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.
18And Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father; for this one is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.”
19But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a people, and he too will be great; yet his younger brother will be greater than he, and his offspring will become a multitude of nations.”
20So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will pronounce blessing, saying, ‘May God make you like Ephraim and like Manasseh.’” Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh.
21Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you back to the land of your fathers.
22And I have given you one shoulder-portion more than your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.”
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