Joseph Visits His Ill Father

1Some time later, somebody informed Joseph, “Your father is ill!” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him to visit Jacob.a

2As soon as Jacob was informed, “Look! Your son Joseph has come to visit you,” Israel rallied his strength and sat up in bed.

3Jacob reminded Joseph, “God Almighty revealed himself to me at Luz in Canaan and blessed me. 4He told me, ‘Pay attention! I’m going to make you fruitful and numerous. I’m going to build you into a vast nation of people and then I’ll give this land to your descendantsb for an eternal possession.’ 5You have two sons who were born to you in Egypt before I came to be with you, whom I now take as my own. Ephraim and Manasseh are mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are. 6Your descendantsc are to be reckoned as yours, but are to be referred to among the names of their brothers in their respectived inheritances.

7“Now as for me, Rachel died after I arrived in Canaan from Paddan, much to my sorrow. While I was on my journey to Ephrathah (also known as Bethlehem), I buried her there.”

Joseph Seeks Blessings for His Sons

8Just then, Israel saw Joseph’s sons and asked, “Who are these?”

9“These are my sons,” Joseph replied.e “God gave them to me here in Egypt.”f

“Please bring them close to me,” Jacobg said, “so I can bless them.”

10Now Israel’s eyesight had become poorh from age. Because he couldn’t see well, Joseph brought them close to him, and Israeli kissed them both and embraced them. 11Then he told Joseph, “I never thought I’d see you again, and now God has allowed me to see your children as well!”

12Joseph took them off his knees and then bowed low with his face to the ground. 13Then he brought them both close to his father,j placing Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel’s left and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel’s right. 14But Israel stretched out his right hand, laying it on Ephraim’s head (he was the younger son) and laying his left hand on Manasseh’s head (even though Manasseh was the firstborn).

Israel Blesses Joseph’s Sons

15Then Israel blessed Joseph by saying:

“May the God in whose presence

my ancestors Abraham and Isaac walked,

the God who has continued shepherding me

my whole life even until today,

16the angel who has been rescuingk me

from all sorts of evil,

bless these young men.

May my name continue to live on within them,

including the names

of my ancestors Abraham and Isaac,

and may they grow into a vast multitude

throughout the earth.”

17But Joseph observed that his father had laid his right hand on Ephraim’s head. That displeased him, so he grabbed his father’s hand and started to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 18“No, father, this one is the firstborn. Place your right hand on his head.”

19But his father refused. “I know,” he said. “I know. He’s going to produce a large nation, and he’s going to be very great. However, his younger brother will become even greater than he, and his descendants will become a multitude of nations.”

20That very day, Jacobl blessed them with this blessing:m

“By you Israel will extend this blessing:

‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh!’”

By doing this, he placed Ephraim before Manasseh. 21Then Israel told Joseph, “Pay attention! I’m about to die, but God will be with you. He’ll bring you back to the land that belongs to your ancestors. 22I’m assigning you one portion more than your brothers from the land that I confiscated from the controln of the Amorites in battle.”o