Genesis 48
48
Jacob blesses his family and dies
Jacob blesses Joseph's two sons
1Joseph was told that his father Jacob had become very sick. So Joseph went to see him and took along his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 2When Joseph arrived, someone told Jacob, “Your son Joseph has come to see you.” Jacob sat up in bed, but it took almost all his strength.
3Jacob told Joseph:#Gn 28.13,14.
God All-Powerful appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, where he gave me his blessing 4and promised, “I will give you a large family with many descendants that will grow into a nation. And I am giving you this land that will belong to you and your family for ever.”
5Then Jacob went on to say:
Joseph, your two sons Ephraim and Manasseh were born in Egypt, but I accept them as my own, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine. 6Any children you have later will be considered yours, but their inheritance will come from Ephraim and Manasseh. 7Unfortunately, your mother Rachel died in Canaan after we had left northern Syria#48.7 northern Syria: See the note at 24.10. and before we reached Bethlehem.#48.7 Bethlehem: The Hebrew text has “Ephrath, that is, Bethlehem”. And I had to bury her along the way.#Gn 35.16-19.
8-10Jacob was very old and almost blind. He did not recognize the two boys, and so he asked Joseph, “Who are these boys?”
Joseph answered, “They are my sons. God has given them to me here in Egypt.”
“Bring them to me,” Jacob said. “I want to give them my blessing.” Joseph brought the boys to him, and he hugged and kissed them.
11Jacob turned to Joseph and told him, “For many years I thought you were dead and that I would never see you again. But now God has even let me live to see your children.” 12Then Joseph made his sons move away from Jacob's knees,#48.12 move…Jacob's knees: The two boys were placed either on or between Jacob's knees, as a sign that he had accepted them as his sons. and Joseph bowed down in front of him with his face to the ground.
13After Joseph got up, he brought his two sons over to Jacob again. He led his younger son Ephraim to the left side of Jacob and his elder son Manasseh to the right. 14But before Jacob gave them his blessing, he crossed his arms, putting his right hand on the head of Ephraim and his left hand on the head of Manasseh. 15Then he gave Joseph his blessing and said:
My grandfather Abraham and my father Isaac worshipped the LORD God. He has been with me all my life, 16and his angel has kept me safe. Now I pray that he will bless these boys and that my name and the names of Abraham and Isaac will live on because of them. I ask God to give them many children and many descendants as well.
17Joseph did not like it when he saw his father place his right hand on the head of the younger son. So he tried to move his father's right hand from Ephraim's head and place it on Manasseh. 18Joseph said, “Father, you have made a mistake. This is the elder boy. Put your right hand on him.”
19But his father said, “Son, I know what I am doing. It's true that Manasseh's family will some day become a great nation. But Ephraim will be even greater than Manasseh, because his descendants will become many great nations.”
20Jacob told him that in the future the people of Israel would ask God's blessings on one another by saying, “I pray for God to bless you as much as he blessed Ephraim and Manasseh.” Jacob put Ephraim's name first to show that he would be greater than Manasseh.#He 11.21. 21After that, Jacob said, “Joseph, you can see that I won't live much longer. But God will be with you and will lead you back to the land he promised our family long ago. 22Meanwhile, I'm giving you the hillside#48.22 the hillside: Or “a larger share than your brothers, the land”. I captured from the Amorites.”
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Genesis 48: CEVUK
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012
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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