Genesis 48
48
Jacob Blesses Ephraim and Manasseh
1Some time later Joseph was told that his father was ill. So he took his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, and went to see Jacob. 2When Jacob was told that his son Joseph had come to see him, he gathered his strength and sat up in bed. 3#Gen 28.13–14Jacob said to Joseph, “Almighty God appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me. 4He said to me, ‘I will give you many children, so that your descendants will become many nations; I will give this land to your descendants as their possession for ever.’ ”
5Jacob continued, “Joseph, your two sons, who were born to you in Egypt before I came here, belong to me; Ephraim and Manasseh are just as much my sons as Reuben and Simeon. 6If you have any more sons, they will not be considered mine; the inheritance they get will come through Ephraim and Manasseh. 7#Gen 35.16–19I am doing this because of your mother Rachel. To my great sorrow she died in the land of Canaan, not far from Ephrath, as I was returning from Mesopotamia. I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath.” (Ephrath is now known as Bethlehem.)
8When Jacob saw Joseph's sons, he asked, “Who are these boys?”
9Joseph answered, “These are my sons, whom God has given me here in Egypt.”
Jacob said, “Bring them to me so that I may bless them.” 10Jacob's eyesight was failing because of his age, and he could not see very well. Joseph brought the boys to him, and he hugged them and kissed them. 11Jacob said to Joseph, “I never expected to see you again, and now God has even let me see your children.” 12Then Joseph took them from Jacob's lap and bowed down before him with his face to the ground.
13Joseph put Ephraim at Jacob's left and Manasseh at his right. 14But Jacob crossed his hands, and put his right hand on the head of Ephraim, even though he was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, who was the elder. 15Then he blessed Joseph:#48.15 Joseph: In blessing Ephraim and Manasseh, Jacob was in fact blessing Joseph.
“May the God whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac served bless these boys!
May God, who has led me to this very day, bless them!
16May the angel, who has rescued me from all harm, bless them!
May my name and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac live on through these boys!
May they have many children, many descendants!”
17Joseph was upset when he saw that his father had put his right hand on Ephraim's head; so he took his father's hand to move it from Ephraim's head to the head of Manasseh. 18He said to his father, “Not that way, father. This is the elder boy; put your right hand on his head.”
19His father refused, saying, “I know, my son, I know. Manasseh's descendants will also become a great people. But his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become great nations.”
20 #
Heb 11.21
So he blessed them that day, saying, “The Israelites will use your names when they pronounce blessings. They will say, ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’ ” In this way Jacob put Ephraim before Manasseh.
21Then Jacob said to Joseph, “As you see, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will take you back to the land of your ancestors. 22It is to you and not to your brothers that I am giving Shechem, that fertile region which I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow.”
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Genesis 48: GNBUK
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
Genesis 48
48
1And it came to pass after these things, that [one] told Yosef, Behold, youri father [is] sick: and he took with him his two sons, M’nasheh (causing to forget; from a debt) and Efrayim (Out of the Ashes I am Fruitful; fruitful in affliction).
2And [one] told Ya’akov (he who holds onto the heel of), and said, Behold, youri son Yosef (Increaser; May God the Powerful One add [Yah]) comes unto youi: and Isra’el (he who holds onto God-The Creator) strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed.
3And Ya’akov said unto Yosef, El-Shaddai [Almighty God the Creator] appeared unto me at Luz [Almond Tree] (almond tree) in the land of Kena’an (merchant; trader; or that humbles and subdues), and Blessed (Favored by God; happy; prosperous) me,
4And said unto me, Behold, I will make youi fruitful, and multiply youi, and I will make of youi a multitude of people; and will give this land to youri seed after youi [for] an everlasting possession.
5And now youri two sons, Efrayim (Out of the Ashes I am Fruitful; fruitful in affliction) and M’nasheh (causing to forget; from a debt), which were born unto youi in the land of Mitzrayim [Egypt] (Double Distress or Double Stronghold, Black Land) before I came unto youi into Mitzrayim [Egypt], [are] my; as Re’uven (behold a son) and Shim’on (heard; he who hears; man of hearing), they shall be my.
6And youri issue (what comes forth) [children], which youi father after them, shall be yoursi, [and] shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance.
7And as for me, when I came from Paddan (a plain; a field), Rachel (ewe) died by me in the land of Kena’an (merchant; trader; or that humbles and subdues) in the way, when yet [there was] but a little way to come unto Efrat (ash-heap: place of fruitfulness): and I buried her there in the way of Efrat; the same [is] Beit-Lechem (House of Bread emphasizing: House of Battle).
8And Isra’el (he who holds onto God-The Creator) beheld Yosef’s (Increaser; May God the Powerful One add [Yah]) sons, and said, Who [are] these?
9And Yosef (Increaser; May God the Powerful One add [Yah]) said unto his father, They [are] my sons, whom God-Elōhīm [The Living Word - The Many Powered] has given me in this [place]. And he said, Bring them, I pray youi, unto me, and I will bless them.
10Now the eyes of Isra’el (he who holds onto God-The Creator) 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 Isra’el said unto Yosef, I had not thought to see youri face: and, lo, God-Elōhīm [The Living Word - The Many Powered] has showed me also youri seed.
12And Yosef brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.
13And Yosef (Increaser; May God the Powerful One add [Yah]) took them both, Efrayim (Out of the Ashes I am Fruitful; fruitful in affliction) in his right hand toward Isra’el’s (he who holds onto God-The Creator) left hand, and M’nasheh (causing to forget; from a debt) in his left hand toward Isra’el’s (he who holds onto God-The Creator) right hand, and brought [them] near unto him.
14And Isra’el (he who holds onto God-The Creator) stretched out his right hand, and laid [it] upon Efrayim’s head, who [was] the younger, and his left hand upon M’nasheh’s head, guiding his hands wittingly; for M’nasheh [was] the firstborn.
15And he Blessed (Favored by God; happy; prosperous) Yosef, and said, God-Elōhīm [The Living Word - The Many Powered], before whom my fathers’ Avraham [exalted father/Fly They Will] and Yitz’chak [Laughter] did walk, the God-Elōhīm [The Living Word - The Many Powered] which fed me all my life long unto this day,
16The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Avraham [exalted father/Fly They Will] and Yitz’chak [Laughter]; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.
17And when Yosef saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Efrayim, it displeased him: and he held up his father’s hand, to remove it from Efrayim’s head unto M’nasheh’s head.
18And Yosef said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this [is] the firstborn; put youri 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: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.
20And he Blessed (Favored by God; happy; prosperous) them that day, saying, In youi shall Isra’el bless, saying, God-Elōhīm [The Living Word - The Many Powered] make youi as Efrayim and as M’nasheh: and he set Efrayim before M’nasheh.
21And Isra’el said unto Yosef, Behold, I die: but God-Elōhīm [The Living Word - The Many Powered] shall be with you, and bring youf again unto the land of yourf fathers.
22Moreover I have given to youi one portion above youri brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Emori with my sword and with my bow.
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