48:1 And it came to pass after these things, that [one] told Joseph, Behold, thy father [is] sick: and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 48:2 And [one] told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh to thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed. 48:3 And Jacob said to Joseph, God Almighty appeared to me at Luz, in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, 48:4 And said to me, Behold I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee, [for] an everlasting possession. 48:5 And now, thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born to thee in the land of Egypt, before I came to thee into Egypt, [are] mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine. 48:6 And thy issue, which thou begettest after them, shall be thine, [and] shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance. 48:7 And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan, in the way, when yet [there was] but a little way to come to Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath, the same [is] Beth-lehem. 48:8 And Israel beheld Joseph's sons, and said, Who [are] these? 48:9 And Joseph said to his father, They [are] my sons, whom God hath given me in this [place]. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, to me, and I will bless them. 48:10 (Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, [so that] he could not see:) And he brought them near to him; and he kissed them, and embraced them. 48:11 And Israel said to Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and lo, God hath shown me also thy seed. 48:12 And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. 48:13 And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand towards Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand towards Israel's right hand, and brought [them] near to him. 48:14 And 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 by design; for Manasseh [was] the first-born. 48:15 And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God who hath fed me all my life long to this day, 48:16 The 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. 48:17 And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he lifted his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. 48:18 And Joseph said to his father, Not so, my father; for this [is] the first-born; put thy right hand upon his head. 48:19 And 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; but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations. 48:20 And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh. 48:21 And Israel said to Joseph, Behold, I die; but God shall be with you, and bring you again to the land of your fathers. 48:22 Moreover 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.