¹And it came to pass after these things that they said to Joseph, “Look, your father is ill.” And he took his two sons with him, Manasseh and Ephraim. ²And they told Jacob and said, “Look, your son Joseph has come to you.” And Israel perked up and sat up on his bed. ³Then Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me in Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, ⁴and he said to me, ‘I am about to make you fruitful, and I will increase you and make you a convocation of people, and I will give this land to your seed after you as an age-abiding possession.’ ⁵And now, your two sons who were born to you in the land of Egypt, before I came to you in Egypt – Ephraim and Manasseh – are mine. They will be mine like Reuben and Simeon. ⁶And your offspring that you beget after them will be yours. They will be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. ⁷And as for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died when with me in the land of Canaan on the journey when there was just a little way to go to Ephrath, and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem.” ⁸Then when Israel saw Joseph's sons, he said, “Who are these?” ⁹And Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons whom God has given me here.” And he said, “Please bring them to me and I will bless them.” ¹⁰Now Israel's eyes had become dim with old age, and he could not see, so he brought them near to him, and he kissed them and embraced them. ¹¹And Israel said to Joseph, “I didn't think I would see your face, but look, God has shown me your seed too.” ¹²Then Joseph took them off his knees and Jacob bowed with his face to the ground. ¹³Joseph then took the two of them, Ephraim on his right, to the left of Israel, and Manasseh on his left, to the right of Israel, and he brought them near him. ¹⁴And Israel stretched out his right hand and put it on Ephraim's head, he being the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh's head, acting discerningly with his hands, for Manasseh was the firstborn. ¹⁵And he blessed Joseph and said,

“God, before whom my fathers walked,

Abraham and Isaac,

The God who has been a shepherd to me

From since ever I was

Up to this day

¹⁶– The angel who redeems me from all evil –

May he bless the lads,

And may my name and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac

Be what they are called after,

And may they teem for abundance

In the heart of the land.”

¹⁷And Joseph saw that he had put his right hand on Ephraim's head, and it was wrong in his sight, and he took hold of his father's hand to remove it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. ¹⁸And Joseph said to his father, “Not like that, my father, for this one is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.” ¹⁹But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a people, and he too will become great, and yet his younger brother will become greater than him, and his seed will become the fulness of the nations.” ²⁰And he blessed them on that day, and he said, “Through you, Israel will give blessing and say, ‘May God make you like Ephraim and like Manasseh.’ ” And he put Ephraim before Manasseh. ²¹And Israel said to Joseph, “Look, I am dying, but God will be with you, and he will bring you back to the land of your fathers. ²²And I have given you one portion more than your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.”