Genesis 47:28-50:3
English Standard Version
28 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. (A)So the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were 147 years.
29 And (B)when the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If now (C)I have found favor in your sight, (D)put your hand under my thigh and (E)promise to deal kindly and truly with me. (F)Do not bury me in Egypt, 30 but let me lie with my fathers. Carry me out of Egypt and (G)bury me in their burying place.” He answered, “I will do as you have said.” 31 And he said, “Swear to me”; and he swore to him. Then (H)Israel bowed himself upon the head of his bed.[a]
Jacob Blesses Ephraim and Manasseh
48 After this, Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is ill.” So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 2 And it was told to Jacob, “Your son Joseph has come to you.” Then Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed. 3 And Jacob said to Joseph, (I)“God Almighty[b] appeared to me at (J)Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, 4 and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples and will give this land to your offspring after you (K)for an everlasting possession.’ 5 And now your (L)two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, (M)are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are. 6 And the children that you fathered after them shall be yours. They shall be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. 7 As for me, when I came from Paddan, to my sorrow (N)Rachel died in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance[c] to go to Ephrath, and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”
8 When Israel saw Joseph's sons, he said, “Who are these?” 9 Joseph said to his father, (O)“They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” And he said, “Bring them to me, please, that (P)I may bless them.” 10 Now (Q)the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. So Joseph brought them near him, (R)and he kissed them and embraced them. 11 And Israel said to Joseph, (S)“I never expected to see your face; and behold, God has let me see your offspring also.” 12 Then Joseph removed them from his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. 13 And 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 him. 14 (T)And Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, (U)crossing his hands (for Manasseh was the firstborn). 15 And he blessed Joseph and said,
“The God (V)before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,
the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day,
16 (W)the angel who has (X)redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys;
and in them let (Y)my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac;
and let them (Z)grow into a multitude[d] in the midst of the earth.”
17 When Joseph saw that his father (AA)laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he took his father's hand to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. 18 And Joseph said to his father, “Not this way, my father; since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head.” 19 But his father refused and said, (AB)“I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless, (AC)his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude[e] of nations.” 20 So he blessed them that day, saying,
“By you Israel will pronounce blessings, saying,
(AD)‘God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh.’”
Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh. 21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but (AE)God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers. 22 Moreover, I have given to (AF)you rather than to your brothers one mountain slope[f] that I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.”
Jacob Blesses His Sons
49 (AG)Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you (AH)in days to come.
2 “Assemble and listen, O sons of Jacob,
listen to Israel your father.
3 “Reuben, you are (AI)my firstborn,
my might, and the (AJ)firstfruits of my strength,
preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.
4 Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence,
because you (AK)went up to your father's bed;
then you defiled it—he went up to my couch!
5 (AL)“Simeon and Levi are brothers;
weapons (AM)of violence are their swords.
6 Let my soul come not into their council;
(AN)O my glory, (AO)be not joined to their company.
For in their anger they killed men,
and in their willfulness they (AP)hamstrung oxen.
7 Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,
and their wrath, for it is cruel!
I will (AQ)divide them in Jacob
and scatter them in Israel.
8 “Judah, (AR)your brothers shall praise you;
(AS)your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
(AT)your father's sons shall bow down before you.
9 Judah is (AU)a lion's cub;
from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
(AV)He stooped down; he crouched as a lion
and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?
10 The (AW)scepter shall not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler's staff (AX)from between his feet,
until tribute comes to him;[g]
and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
11 Binding his foal to the vine
and his donkey's colt to the choice vine,
he has washed his garments in wine
and his vesture in the blood of grapes.
12 His (AY)eyes are darker than wine,
and his teeth whiter than milk.
13 (AZ)“Zebulun shall dwell at the (BA)shore of the sea;
he shall become a haven for ships,
and his border shall be at Sidon.
14 (BB)“Issachar is a strong donkey,
crouching between the sheepfolds.[h]
15 He saw that a resting place was good,
and that the land was pleasant,
so he bowed his shoulder to bear,
and (BC)became a servant at forced labor.
16 (BD)“Dan shall (BE)judge his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan (BF)shall be a serpent in the way,
a viper by the path,
that bites the horse's heels
so that his rider falls backward.
18 I (BG)wait for your salvation, O Lord.
20 (BJ)“Asher's food shall be rich,
and he shall yield royal delicacies.
22 “Joseph is (BL)a fruitful bough,
a fruitful bough by a spring;
his branches run over the wall.[k]
23 The archers (BM)bitterly attacked him,
shot at him, and harassed him severely,
24 yet (BN)his bow remained unmoved;
his arms[l] were made agile
by the hands of the (BO)Mighty One of Jacob
(from there is (BP)the Shepherd,[m] (BQ)the Stone of Israel),
25 (BR)by the God of your father who will help you,
by (BS)the Almighty[n] (BT)who will bless you
with blessings of heaven above,
blessings of the deep that crouches beneath,
blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
26 The blessings of your father
are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents,
up to the bounties (BU)of the everlasting hills.[o]
May they be (BV)on the head of Joseph,
and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.
27 (BW)“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf,
in the morning devouring the prey
and at evening (BX)dividing the spoil.”
Jacob's Death and Burial
28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him. 29 Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am to be (BY)gathered to my people; (BZ)bury me with my fathers (CA)in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, (CB)which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. 31 (CC)There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There (CD)they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah— 32 the field and the cave that is in it were bought from the Hittites.” 33 When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and (CE)was gathered to his people.
50 Then Joseph (CF)fell on his father's face and wept over him and kissed him. 2 And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to (CG)embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. 3 Forty days were required for it, for that is how many are required for embalming. And the Egyptians (CH)wept for him seventy days.
Footnotes
- Genesis 47:31 Hebrew; Septuagint staff
- Genesis 48:3 Hebrew El Shaddai
- Genesis 48:7 Or about two hours' distance
- Genesis 48:16 Or let them be like fish for multitude
- Genesis 48:19 Hebrew fullness
- Genesis 48:22 Or one portion of the land; Hebrew shekem, which sounds like the town and district called Shechem
- Genesis 49:10 By a slight revocalization; a slight emendation yields (compare Septuagint, Syriac, Targum) until he comes to whom it belongs; Hebrew until Shiloh comes, or until he comes to Shiloh
- Genesis 49:14 Or between its saddlebags
- Genesis 49:19 Gad sounds like the Hebrew for raiders and raid
- Genesis 49:21 Or he gives beautiful words, or that bears fawns of the fold
- Genesis 49:22 Or Joseph is a wild donkey, a wild donkey beside a spring, his wild colts beside the wall
- Genesis 49:24 Hebrew the arms of his hands
- Genesis 49:24 Or by the name of the Shepherd
- Genesis 49:25 Hebrew Shaddai
- Genesis 49:26 A slight emendation yields (compare Septuagint) the blessings of the eternal mountains, the bounties of the everlasting hills
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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