Old Testament
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
New Testament
Genesis 48
Jacob Blesses Ephraim and Manasseh
481Sometime after these things Joseph was told, “Come right away. Your father is sick.” So he took his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, with him. 2Jacob was told, “Look, your son Joseph is coming to you,” so 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 blessed me. 4He said to me, ‘I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make you into a community of peoples, and I will give this land to your descendants after you as a permanent possession.’ 5Now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, will be counted as mine. Ephraim and Manasseh will count as my sons the same as Reuben and Simeon. 6Your sons that you father after them will count as your own. For receiving their inheritance they will be registered under the name of their brothers. 7As for me, when I came back from Paddan, to my loss[] Rachel died on the journey in the land of Canaan when we were still some distance from Ephrath, and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”
8Israel saw Joseph's sons and asked, “Who are these boys?”
9Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.”
Israel said, “Please bring them to me, and I will bless them.”
10Now the eyes of Israel were failing because of his age, and he could not see. Joseph brought the boys close to Jacob, and he kissed them and embraced them. 11Israel said to Joseph, “I did not think I would see your face, but now God has let me see your offspring also.” 12Joseph moved them from Jacob's lap, and he bowed down with his face to the ground. 13Joseph led them both. He led Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them close to him. 14But Israel, crossing his hands, stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh's head, though Manasseh was the firstborn. 15He blessed Joseph and said,
May 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 these lads,
and let my name be placed on them,
and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac.
Let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.
17When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, he was displeased. He held up his father's hand to remove it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. 18Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.”
19His father refused and said, “I know, my son. I know. He also will become a people, and he also will be great. However, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become a multitude of nations.” 20He blessed them that day with these words: “Israel will pronounce a blessing using your name, saying, ‘May God make you like Ephraim and like Manasseh.’” So he placed Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.