Bereshis 48
48
1And 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.
2And 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).
3And Ya'akov said unto Yosef, El Shaddai appeared unto me at Luz in Eretz Kena'an, and made on me a brocha,
4And 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).
5And 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 Shim'on, they shall be mine.
6And 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.
7And as for me, when I came from Paddan, 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.
8And Yisroel beheld Bnei Yosef, and said, Who are these?
9And 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.
10Now 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.
11And Yisroel said unto Yosef, I never expected to see thy face; and, hinei, Elohim hath showed me also thy zera.
12And Yosef brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the ground.
13And 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.
14And Yisroel stretched out his yamin, and laid it upon rosh Ephrayim, who was the younger, and his smol upon rosh Menasheh, guiding his hands intentionally; for Menasheh was the bechor.
15And 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,
16The 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.
17And 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.
18And Yosef said unto aviv, Not so, Avi; for this is the bechor; put thy yamin upon his rosh.
19And 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.
20And 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.
21And Yisroel said unto Yosef, Hinei I die; but Elohim shall be with you, and bring you back unto the Eretz Avoteichem.
22Moreover, 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.
THE ORTHODOX JEWISH BIBLE
FOURTH EDITION © Artists For Israel Intl Inc., 2002-2011, 2021.
Genesis 48
48
1-2Some time after this conversation, Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” He took his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, and went to Jacob. When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come,” he roused himself and sat up in bed.
3-7Jacob said to Joseph, “The Strong God appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me. He said, ‘I’m going to make you prosperous and numerous, turn you into a congregation of tribes; and I’ll turn this land over to your children coming after you as a permanent inheritance.’ I’m adopting your two sons who were born to you here in Egypt before I joined you; they have equal status with Reuben and Simeon. But any children born after them are yours; they will come after their brothers in matters of inheritance. I want it this way because, as I was returning from Paddan, your mother Rachel, to my deep sorrow, died as we were on our way through Canaan when we were only a short distance from Ephrath, now called Bethlehem.”
8Just then Jacob noticed Joseph’s sons and said, “Who are these?”
9-11Joseph told his father, “They are my sons whom God gave to me in this place.”
“Bring them to me,” he said, “so I can bless them.” Israel’s eyesight was poor from old age; he was nearly blind. So Joseph brought them up close. Old Israel kissed and embraced them and then said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again, and now God has let me see your children as well!”
12-16Joseph took them from Israel’s knees and bowed respectfully, his face to the ground. Then Joseph took the two boys, Ephraim with his right hand setting him to Israel’s left, and Manasseh with his left hand setting him to Israel’s right, and stood them before him. But Israel crossed his arms and put his right hand on the head of Ephraim who was the younger and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, the firstborn. Then he blessed them:
The God before whom walked
my fathers Abraham and Isaac,
The God who has been my shepherd
all my life long to this very day,
The Angel who delivered me from every evil,
Bless the boys.
May my name be echoed in their lives,
and the names of Abraham and Isaac, my fathers,
And may they grow
covering the Earth with their children.
17-18When Joseph saw that his father had placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, he thought he had made a mistake, so he took hold of his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s, saying, “That’s the wrong head, Father; the other one is the firstborn; place your right hand on his head.”
19-20But his father wouldn’t do it. He said, “I know, my son; but I know what I’m doing. He also will develop into a people, and he also will be great. But his younger brother will be even greater and his descendants will enrich nations.” Then he blessed them both:
Israel will use your names to give blessings:
May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.
In that he made it explicit: he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.
21-22Israel then said to Joseph, “I’m about to die. God be with you and give you safe passage back to the land of your fathers. As for me, I’m presenting you, as the first among your brothers, the ridge of land I took from Amorites with my sword and bow.”
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.