|
[1]Again after this, one said to Joseph, Lo, thy father is sick: then he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
[2]Also one told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph is come to thee, and Israel took his strength unto him and sat upon the bed.
[3]Then Jacob said unto Joseph, God almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me.
[4]And he said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and will multiply thee, and will make a great number of people of thee, and will give this land unto thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.
[5]And now thy two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, which are born unto thee in the land of Egypt, before I came to thee into Egypt, shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are mine.
[6]But thy linage, which thou hast begotten after them, shall be thine: they shall be called after the names of their brethren in their inheritance.
[7]Now when I came from Padan, Rachel died upon mine hand in the land of Canaan, by the way when there was but half a day's journey of ground to come to Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way to Ephrath: the same is Beth-lehem.
[8]Then Israel beheld Joseph's sons and said, Whose are these?
[9]And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, which God hath given me here. Then he said, I pray thee, bring them to me, that I may bless them:
[10](For the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not well see) Then he caused them to come to him, and he kissed them and embraced them.
[11]And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to have seen thy face: yet lo, God hath showed me also thy seed.
[12]And Joseph took them away from his knees, and did reverence down to the ground.
[13]Then took Joseph them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand, so he brought them unto him.
[14]But Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it on Ephraim's head, which was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head (directing his hands of purpose) for Manasseh was the elder.
[15]Also he blessed Joseph and said, The God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God, which hath fed me all my life long unto this day, bless thee.
[16]The Angel, which hath delivered me from all evil, bless the children, and let my name be named upon them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, that they may grow as fish into a multitude in the midst of the earth.
[17]But when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he stayed his father's hand to remove it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head.
[18]And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father, for this is the eldest: put thy right hand upon his head.
[19]But his father refused, and said, I know well, my son, I know well: he shall be also a people, and he shall be great likewise: but his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall be full of nations.
[20]So he blessed them that day, and said, In thee Israel shall bless, and say, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh. And he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
[21]Then Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die, and God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers.
[22]Moreover, I have given unto thee one portion above thy brethren, which I gat out of the hand of the Amorite by my sword and by my bow.
|