24 She named him Joseph,[a](A) and said, “May the Lord add to me another son.”(B)

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 30:24 Joseph means may he add.

22 “Joseph(A) is a fruitful vine,(B)
    a fruitful vine near a spring,
    whose branches(C) climb over a wall.[a]
23 With bitterness archers attacked him;(D)
    they shot at him with hostility.(E)
24 But his bow remained steady,(F)
    his strong arms(G) stayed[b] limber,
because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob,(H)
    because of the Shepherd,(I) the Rock of Israel,(J)
25 because of your father’s God,(K) who helps(L) you,
    because of the Almighty,[c](M) who blesses you
with blessings of the skies above,
    blessings of the deep springs below,(N)
    blessings of the breast(O) and womb.(P)
26 Your father’s blessings are greater
    than the blessings of the ancient mountains,
    than[d] the bounty of the age-old hills.(Q)
Let all these rest on the head of Joseph,(R)
    on the brow of the prince among[e] his brothers.(S)

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 49:22 Or Joseph is a wild colt, / a wild colt near a spring, / a wild donkey on a terraced hill
  2. Genesis 49:24 Or archers will attack … will shoot … will remain … will stay
  3. Genesis 49:25 Hebrew Shaddai
  4. Genesis 49:26 Or of my progenitors, / as great as
  5. Genesis 49:26 Or of the one separated from

24 The sons of Rachel:

Joseph(A) and Benjamin.(B)

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from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000,

from the tribe of Joseph 12,000,

from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.

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This is the account(A) of Jacob’s family line.

Joseph,(B) a young man of seventeen,(C) was tending the flocks(D) with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah(E) and the sons of Zilpah,(F) his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report(G) about them.

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21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons,(A) and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

22 By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones.(B)

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13 About Joseph(A) he said:

“May the Lord bless his land
    with the precious dew from heaven above
    and with the deep waters that lie below;(B)
14 with the best the sun brings forth
    and the finest the moon can yield;
15 with the choicest gifts of the ancient mountains(C)
    and the fruitfulness of the everlasting hills;
16 with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness
    and the favor of him who dwelt in the burning bush.(D)
Let all these rest on the head of Joseph,
    on the brow of the prince among[a] his brothers.(E)
17 In majesty he is like a firstborn bull;
    his horns(F) are the horns of a wild ox.(G)
With them he will gore(H) the nations,
    even those at the ends of the earth.
Such are the ten thousands of Ephraim;(I)
    such are the thousands of Manasseh.(J)

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 33:16 Or of the one separated from

Now Joseph was the governor of the land,(A) the person who sold grain to all its people.(B) So when Joseph’s brothers arrived, they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground.(C)

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Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife

39 Now Joseph(A) had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard,(B) bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there.(C)

The Lord was with Joseph(D) so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the Lord was with him(E) and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did,(F) Joseph found favor in his eyes(G) and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household,(H) and he entrusted to his care everything he owned.(I) From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household(J) of the Egyptian because of Joseph.(K) The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field.(L) So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care;(M) with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.

Now Joseph was well-built and handsome,(N) and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!”(O)

But he refused.(P) “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care.(Q) No one is greater in this house than I am.(R) My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”(S) 10 And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused(T) to go to bed with her or even be with her.

11 One day he went into the house to attend to his duties,(U) and none of the household servants(V) was inside. 12 She caught him by his cloak(W) and said, “Come to bed with me!”(X) But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.(Y)

13 When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house, 14 she called her household servants.(Z) “Look,” she said to them, “this Hebrew(AA) has been brought to us to make sport of us!(AB) He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed.(AC) 15 When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”(AD)

16 She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home. 17 Then she told him this story:(AE) “That Hebrew(AF) slave(AG) you brought us came to me to make sport of me. 18 But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”

19 When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is how your slave treated me,” he burned with anger.(AH) 20 Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison,(AI) the place where the king’s prisoners were confined.

But while Joseph was there in the prison, 21 the Lord was with him;(AJ) he showed him kindness(AK) and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.(AL) 22 So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there.(AM) 23 The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s(AN) care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.(AO)

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17 And as she was having great difficulty in childbirth, the midwife(A) said to her, “Don’t despair, for you have another son.”(B) 18 As she breathed her last—for she was dying—she named her son Ben-Oni.[a](C) But his father named him Benjamin.[b](D)

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 35:18 Ben-Oni means son of my trouble.
  2. Genesis 35:18 Benjamin means son of my right hand.

“Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph,(A) they sold him as a slave into Egypt.(B) But God was with him(C) 10 and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt. So Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.(D)

11 “Then a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our ancestors could not find food.(E) 12 When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our forefathers on their first visit.(F) 13 On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was,(G) and Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family.(H) 14 After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family,(I) seventy-five in all.(J) 15 Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our ancestors died.(K)

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16 “Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, ‘Belonging to Judah and the Israelites(A) associated with him.(B)’ Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, ‘Belonging to Joseph (that is, to Ephraim) and all the Israelites associated with him.’

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Manasseh and Ephraim

48 Some time later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim(A) along with him. When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel(B) rallied his strength and sat up on the bed.

Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty[a](C) appeared to me at Luz(D) in the land of Canaan, and there he blessed me(E) and said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful and increase your numbers.(F) I will make you a community of peoples, and I will give this land(G) as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you.’(H)

“Now then, your two sons born to you in Egypt(I) before I came to you here will be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine,(J) just as Reuben(K) and Simeon(L) are mine. Any children born to you after them will be yours; in the territory they inherit they will be reckoned under the names of their brothers. As I was returning from Paddan,[b](M) to my sorrow(N) Rachel died in the land of Canaan while we were still on the way, a little distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).(O)

When Israel(P) saw the sons of Joseph,(Q) he asked, “Who are these?”

“They are the sons God has given me here,”(R) Joseph said to his father.

Then Israel said, “Bring them to me so I may bless(S) them.”

10 Now Israel’s eyes were failing because of old age, and he could hardly see.(T) So Joseph brought his sons close to him, and his father kissed them(U) and embraced them.(V)

11 Israel(W) said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again,(X) and now God has allowed me to see your children too.”(Y)

12 Then Joseph removed them from Israel’s knees(Z) and bowed down with his face to the ground.(AA) 13 And Joseph took both of them, Ephraim on his right toward Israel’s left hand and Manasseh on his left toward Israel’s right hand,(AB) and brought them close to him. 14 But Israel(AC) reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim’s head,(AD) though he was the younger,(AE) and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn.(AF)

15 Then he blessed(AG) Joseph and said,

“May the God before whom my fathers
    Abraham and Isaac walked faithfully,(AH)
the God who has been my shepherd(AI)
    all my life to this day,
16 the Angel(AJ) who has delivered me from all harm(AK)
    —may he bless(AL) these boys.(AM)
May they be called by my name
    and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac,(AN)
and may they increase greatly
    on the earth.”(AO)

17 When Joseph saw his father placing his right hand(AP) on Ephraim’s head(AQ) he was displeased; so he took hold of his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 18 Joseph said to him, “No, my father, this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”(AR)

19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a people, and he too will become great.(AS) Nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he,(AT) and his descendants will become a group of nations.(AU) 20 He blessed(AV) them that day(AW) and said,

“In your[c] name will Israel(AX) pronounce this blessing:(AY)
    ‘May God make you like Ephraim(AZ) and Manasseh.(BA)’”

So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.

21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you[d](BB) and take you[e] back to the land of your[f] fathers.(BC) 22 And to you I give one more ridge of land[g](BD) than to your brothers,(BE) the ridge I took from the Amorites with my sword(BF) and my bow.”

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 48:3 Hebrew El-Shaddai
  2. Genesis 48:7 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia
  3. Genesis 48:20 The Hebrew is singular.
  4. Genesis 48:21 The Hebrew is plural.
  5. Genesis 48:21 The Hebrew is plural.
  6. Genesis 48:21 The Hebrew is plural.
  7. Genesis 48:22 The Hebrew for ridge of land is identical with the place name Shechem.

When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him(A) and could not speak a kind word to him.

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