| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | International Standard Version |
| 1[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 1Some time later, somebody informed Joseph, "Your father is ill!" So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him to visit Jacob. |
| 2[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 2As soon as Jacob was informed, "Look! Your son Joseph has come to visit you," Israel rallied his strength and sat up in bed. |
| 3[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 3Jacob reminded Joseph, "God Almighty revealed himself to me at Luz in Canaan and blessed me. |
| 4[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 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 descendants for an eternal possession.' |
| 5[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 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. |
| 6[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 6Your descendants are to be reckoned as yours, but are to be referred to among the names of their brothers in their respective inheritances. |
| 7[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 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." |
| 8[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 8Just then, Israel saw Joseph's sons and asked, "Who are these?" |
| 9[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 9"These are my sons," Joseph replied. "God gave them to me here in Egypt." "Please bring them close to me," Jacob said, "so I can bless them." |
| 10[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 10Now Israel's eyesight had become poor from age. Because he couldn't see well, Joseph brought them close to him, and Israel kissed them both and embraced them. |
| 11[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 11Then he told Joseph, "I never thought I'd see you again, and now God has allowed me to see your children as well!" |
| 12[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 12Joseph took them off his knees and then bowed low with his face to the ground. |
| 13[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 13Then he brought them both close to his father, placing Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel's left and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel's right. |
| 14[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 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). |
| 15[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 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, |
| 16[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 16the angel who has been rescuing 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." |
| 17[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 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[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 18"No, father, this one is the firstborn. Place your right hand on his head." |
| 19[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 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." |
| 20[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 20That very day, Jacob blessed them with this blessing: "By you Israel will extend this blessing: 'May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh!'" By doing this, he placed Ephraim before Manasseh. |
| 21[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 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. |
| 22[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 22I'm assigning you one portion more than your brothers from the land that I confiscated from the control of the Amorites in battle." |
| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. |
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