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Genesis 48 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

Jacob Blesses Ephraim and Manasseh

(Heb 11:21 )

Gen 48:1

Gen 48:1After this, Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is ill.” So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

Gen 48:2

Gen 48:2And it was told to Jacob, “Your son Joseph has come to you.” Then Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed.

Gen 48:3

Gen 48:3And Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty[fn] appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me,

Gen 48:4

Gen 48:4and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples and will give this land to your offspring after you for an everlasting possession.’

Gen 48:5

Gen 48:5And now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are.

Gen 48:6

Gen 48:6And the children that you fathered after them shall be yours. They shall be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance.

Gen 48:7

Gen 48:7As for me, when I came from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance[fn] to go to Ephrath, and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”

Gen 48:8

Gen 48:8When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?”

Gen 48:9

Gen 48:9Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” And he said, “Bring them to me, please, that I may bless them.”

Gen 48:10

Gen 48:10Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. So Joseph brought them near him, and he kissed them and embraced them.

Gen 48:11

Gen 48:11And Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face; and behold, God has let me see your offspring also.”

Gen 48:12

Gen 48:12Then Joseph removed them from his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.

Gen 48:13

Gen 48:13And 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 him.

Gen 48:14

Gen 48:14And Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands (for Manasseh was the firstborn).

Gen 48:15

Gen 48:15And he blessed Joseph and said,
“The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,
the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day,

Gen 48:16

Gen 48:16the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys;
and in them let my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac;
and let them grow into a multitude[fn] in the midst of the earth.”

Gen 48:17

Gen 48:17When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.

Gen 48:18

Gen 48:18And Joseph said to his father, “Not this way, my father; since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head.”

Gen 48:19

Gen 48:19But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude[fn] of nations.”

Gen 48:20

Gen 48:20So he blessed them that day, saying,
“By you Israel will pronounce blessings, saying,
‘God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh.’” Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh.

Gen 48:21

Gen 48:21Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers.

Gen 48:22

Gen 48:22Moreover, I have given to you rather than to your brothers one mountain slope[fn] that I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.”
See the ESV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
ESV Footnotes
Hebrew El Shaddai
Or about two hours’ distance
Or let them be like fish for multitude
Hebrew fullness
Or one portion of the land; Hebrew shekem, which sounds like the town and district called Shechem
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Genesis Chapter 48 — Additional Translations:

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