48One day not long after this, word came to Joseph, "Your father is failing rapidly." So Joseph went to visit his father, and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.H310H1697H559H3130H1H2470H3947H8147H1121H4519H6692When Joseph arrived, Jacob was told, "Your son Joseph has come to see you." So Jacob gathered his strength and sat up in his bed.H5046H3290H559H1121H3130H935H3478H2388H3427H42963Jacob said to Joseph, "God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me.H3290H559H3130H410H7706H7200H3870H776H3667H12884He said to me, 'I will make you fruitful, and I will multiply your descendants. I will make you a multitude of nations. And I will give this land of Canaan to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.'H559H6509H7235H5414H6951H5971H5414H776H2233H310H5769H2725"Now I am claiming as my own sons these two boys of yours, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born here in the land of Egypt before I arrived. They will be my sons, just as Reuben and Simeon are.H8147H1121H669H4519H3205H776H4714H5704H935H4714H7205H80956But any children born to you in the future will be your own, and they will inherit land within the territories of their brothers Ephraim and Manasseh.H4138H3205H310H7121H5921H8034H251H51597"Long ago, as I was returning from Paddan-aram, Rachel died in the land of Canaan. We were still on the way, some distance from Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). So with great sorrow I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath."H935H6307H7354H4191H776H3667H1870H5750H3530H776H935H672H6912H1870H672H10358Then Jacob looked over at the two boys. "Are these your sons?" he asked.H3478H7200H3130H1121H5599"Yes," Joseph told him, "these are the sons God has given me here in Egypt." And Jacob said, "Bring them closer to me, so I can bless them."H3130H559H1H1121H430H5414H559H3947H128810Jacob was half blind because of his age and could hardly see. So Joseph brought the boys close to him, and Jacob kissed and embraced them.H5869H3478H3513H2207H3201H7200H5066H5401H226311Then Jacob said to Joseph, "I never thought I would see your face again, but now God has let me see your children, too!"H3478H559H3130H6419H7200H6440H430H7200H223312Joseph moved the boys, who were at their grandfather's knees, and he bowed with his face to the ground.H3130H3318H5973H1290H7812H639H77613Then he positioned the boys in front of Jacob. With his right hand he directed Ephraim toward Jacob's left hand, and with his left hand he put Manasseh at Jacob's right hand.H3130H3947H8147H669H3225H3478H8040H4519H8040H3478H3225H506614But Jacob crossed his arms as he reached out to lay his hands on the boys' heads. He put his right hand on the head of Ephraim, though he was the younger boy, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, though he was the firstborn.H3478H7971H3225H7896H669H7218H6810H8040H4519H7218H7919H3027H7919H4519H106015Then he blessed Joseph and said, "May the God before whom my grandfather Abraham and my father, Isaac, walked—the God who has been my shepherd all my life, to this very day,H1288H3130H559H430H6440H1H85H3327H1980H430H7462H5750H311716the Angel who has redeemed me from all harm—may he bless these boys. May they preserve my name and the names of Abraham and Isaac. And may their descendants multiply greatly throughout the earth."H4397H1350H7451H1288H5288H8034H7121H8034H1H85H3327H1711H7230H7130H77617But Joseph was upset when he saw that his father placed his right hand on Ephraim's head. So Joseph lifted it to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head.H3130H7200H1H7896H3225H3027H7218H669H3415H5869H8551H1H3027H5493H669H7218H4519H721818"No, my father," he said. "This one is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head."H3130H559H1H1H1060H7760H3225H721819But his father refused. "I know, my son; I know," he replied. "Manasseh will also become a great people, but his younger brother will become even greater. And his descendants will become a multitude of nations."H1H3985H559H3045H1121H3045H5971H1431H199H6996H251H1431H2233H4393H147120So Jacob blessed the boys that day with this blessing: "The people of Israel will use your names when they give a blessing. They will say, 'May God make you as prosperous as Ephraim and Manasseh.'" In this way, Jacob put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.H1288H3117H559H3478H1288H559H430H7760H669H4519H7760H669H6440H451921Then Jacob said to Joseph, "Look, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will take you back to Canaan, the land of your ancestors.H3478H559H3130H4191H430H7725H776H122And beyond what I have given your brothers, I am giving you an extra portion of the land that I took from the Amorites with my sword and bow."H5414H259H7926H251H3947H3027H567H2719H7198
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gathered his strength and sat up in his bed.H5046
