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Genesis 48:1-22 — Jacob Blesses Ephraim and Manasseh

Gen.48.1-22

¹After these things, Joseph was told, “Look, your father is ill.” So he took his two sons with him, Manasseh and Ephraim. ²And someone told Jacob, saying, “Look, your son Joseph has come to you.” Then Israel gathered his strength and sat up on the bed. ³Jacob said to Joseph, "God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and he blessed me. ⁴And he said to me, 'Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make you an assembly 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, just as Reuben and Simeon are. ⁶But your children whom you father after them shall be yours; they shall be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. ⁷As for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died to my sorrow in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance to go to 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?” ⁹Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” And he said, “Please bring them to me, so that I may bless them.” ¹⁰Now the eyes of Israel were heavy with age, so that he could not see. So Joseph brought them near to him, and he kissed them and embraced them. ¹¹Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face, and behold, God has let me see your offspring as well.” ¹²Then Joseph took them away from beside his father's knees, and he bowed down with his face to the ground. ¹³And 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 to him. ¹⁴But Israel stretched out his right hand and placed it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands, although Manasseh was the firstborn. ¹⁵Then 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, bless the boys. And let my name be named upon them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and let them multiply into a great multitude in the midst of the earth." ¹⁷When Joseph saw that his father was placing his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; so he took hold of his father's hand to remove 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 also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.” ²⁰So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you shall Israel 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 bring you back to the land of your fathers. ²²And as for me, I have given to you one mountain ridge more than your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow."

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4/11/2026

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