1And it came to pass after these things , that one said to Joseph , Behold , thy father is sick : and he took with him his two sons , Manasseh and Ephraim. 2And one told Jacob , and said, Behold , thy son Joseph cometh unto thee : and Israel strengthened himself , and sat upon the bed . 3And Jacob said unto Joseph , God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan , and blessed me , 4and said unto me , Behold , I will make thee fruitful , and multiply thee , and I will make of thee a company of peoples , and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession . 5And now thy two sons , who were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt , are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh , even as Reuben and Simeon , shall be mine. 6And thy issue , that thou begettest after them , shall be thine; they shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance . 7And as for me , when I came from Paddan , Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way , when there was still some distance to come unto Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way to Ephrath ( the same is Beth-lehem ). 8And Israel beheld Joseph ’s sons , and said, Who are these? 9And Joseph said unto his father , They are my sons , whom God hath given me here . And he said, Bring them , I pray thee , unto me , and I will bless them . 10Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age , so that he could not see . And he brought them near unto him ; and he kissed them , and embraced them . 11And Israel said unto Joseph , I had not thought to see thy face : and , lo , God hath let me see thy seed also . 12And Joseph brought them out from between his knees ; and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. 13And 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 unto him . 14And Israel stretched out his right hand , and laid it upon Ephraim’s head , who was the younger , and his left hand upon Manasseh ’s head , guiding his hands wittingly ; for Manasseh was the first-born.
Jacob's Prophetic Blessings
15And he blessed Joseph , and said, The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk , the God who hath fed me all my life long unto this day , 16the angel who hath redeemed me from all evil , bless the lads ; and let my name be named on them , and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac ; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. 17And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him : and he held up his father’s hand , to remove it from Ephraim’s head unto Manasseh ’s head . 18And Joseph said unto his father, Not so , my father; for this is the first-born; put thy right hand upon his head . 19And his father refused , and said, I know it , my son , I know it ; he also shall become a people , and he also shall be great : howbeit his younger brother shall be greater than he , and his seed shall become a multitude of nations . 20And he blessed them that day , saying, In thee will Israel bless , saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh : and he set Ephraim before Manasseh . 21And Israel said unto Joseph , Behold , I die : but God will be with you , and bring you again unto the land of your fathers. 22Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow .