Bereshis 48
Orthodox Jewish Bible
48 And it came to pass after these things, that one told Yosef, Hinei, Avicha is choleh (ill); and he took with him his two banim, Menasheh and Ephrayim.
2 And one told Ya’akov, and said, Hinei, the ben of thee Yosef cometh unto thee; and Yisroel strengthened himself, and sat up upon the mittah (bed).
3 And Ya’akov said unto Yosef, El Shaddai appeared unto me at Luz in Eretz Kena’an, and made on me a brocha,
4 And said unto me, Hineni, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a kehal of ammim; and will give HaAretz Hazot to thy zera after thee for an achuzzat olam (everlasting possession).
5 And now thy two banim, Ephrayim and Menasheh, which were born unto thee in Eretz Mitzrayim before I came unto thee into Mitzrayim, are mine; like Reuven and Shimon, they shall be mine.
6 And thy moledet, which are born to thee after them, shall be thine, and shall be called after the shem of their achim in their nachalah.
7 And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died by me in Eretz Kena’an in the way, when there was yet but a space of land to go unto Ephratah; and I buried her there by the derech Ephrat; the same is Beit-Lechem.
8 And Yisroel beheld Bnei Yosef, and said, Who are these?
9 And Yosef said unto aviv, They are my banim, whom Elohim hath given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, now, unto me, and I will make upon them a brocha.
10 Now the eyes of Yisroel were dim from age, so that he could not see. And he brought them near unto him; and he kissed them, and embraced them.
11 And Yisroel said unto Yosef, I never expected to see thy face; and, hinei, Elohim hath showed me also thy zera.
12 And Yosef brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the ground.
13 And Yosef took them both, Ephrayim in his yamin toward smol Yisroel, and Menasheh on his smol toward yamin Yisroel, and brought them near unto him.
14 And Yisroel stretched out his yamin, and laid it upon rosh Ephraim, who was the younger, and his smol upon rosh Manasseh, guiding his hands intentionally; for Menasheh was the bechor.
15 And he made on Yosef a brocha, and said, HaElohim, before whom my Avot Avraham and Yitzchak did walk, HaElohim Who was Roeh to me all my life long unto this day,
16 The Malach which redeemed me from kol rah, may he make a brocha on the ne’arim, and let my shem be named on them, and the shem of my Avot Avraham and Yitzchak; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of ha’aretz.
17 And when Yosef saw that aviv laid his yamin upon the rosh Ephrayim, it displeased him; and he took hold of yad aviv, to remove it from rosh Ephrayim unto rosh Menasheh.
18 And Yosef said unto aviv, Not so, Avi; for this is the bechor; put thy yamin upon his rosh.
19 And aviv refused, and said, I know it, beni (my son), I know it; he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly achiv hakaton shall be greater than he, and his zera shall become a multitude of Goyim.
20 And he made a brocha on them that day, saying, In thee shall Yisroel bless, saying, Elohim make thee like Ephrayim and like Menasheh; and he set Ephrayim before Menasheh.
21 And Yisroel said unto Yosef, Hinei I die; but Elohim shall be with you, and bring you back unto the Eretz Avoteichem.
22 Moreover, I have given to thee one portion above thy achim, which I took out of the yad HaEmori with my cherev and with my keshet.
Genesis 48
Christian Standard Bible
Jacob Blesses Ephraim and Manasseh
48 Some time after this, Joseph was told, “Your father is weaker.” So he set out with his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 2 When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed.
3 Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty(A) appeared to me at Luz(B) in the land of Canaan and blessed me. 4 He said to me, ‘I will make you fruitful and numerous; I will make many nations come from you, and I will give this land as a permanent possession(C) to your future descendants.’(D) 5 Your two sons(E) born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt are now mine.(F) Ephraim and Manasseh belong to me just as Reuben and Simeon do. 6 Children born to you after them will be yours and will be recorded under the names of their brothers with regard to their inheritance. 7 When I was returning from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died along the way,(G) some distance from Ephrath in the land of Canaan. I buried her there along the way to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).
8 When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?”
9 And Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons God has given me here.”
So Israel said, “Bring them to me and I will bless them.”(H) 10 Now his eyesight was poor because of old age; he could hardly[a] see.(I) Joseph brought them to him, and he kissed and embraced them.(J) 11 Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again, but now God has even let me see your offspring.” 12 Then Joseph took them from his father’s knees and bowed with his face to the ground.(K)
Ephraim’s Greater Blessing
13 Then Joseph took them both—with his right hand Ephraim toward Israel’s left, and with his left hand Manasseh toward Israel’s right—and brought them to Israel. 14 But Israel stretched out his right hand and put it on the head of Ephraim, the younger, and crossing his hands, put his left on Manasseh’s head, although Manasseh was the firstborn.(L) 15 Then he blessed Joseph and said:
The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,(M)
the God who has been my shepherd(N) all my life to this day,
16 the angel who has redeemed me from all harm(O)—
may he bless these boys.
And may they be called by my name
and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac,(P)
and may they grow to be numerous within the land.
17 When Joseph saw that his father had placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, he thought it was a mistake[b] and took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s. 18 Joseph said to his father, “Not that way, my father! This one is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.”
19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know! He too will become a tribe,[c] and he too will be great; nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his offspring will become a populous nation.”[d] 20 So he blessed them that day, putting Ephraim before Manasseh when he said, “The nation Israel will invoke blessings by you, saying, ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’”
21 Israel said to Joseph, “Look, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you back to the land of your fathers.(Q) 22 Over and above what I am giving your brothers, I am giving you the one mountain slope[e] that I took from the Amorites with my sword and bow.”(R)
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