THE WORD OF ELOHIM
GENESIS
Chapter 48
Some time afterward, Yehoseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he took with him his two sons, Menashsheh and Ephrayim. When Ya’akov was told, “Your son Yehoseph has come to see you,” Yisrael summoned his strength and sat up in bed.
And Ya’akov said to Yehoseph, “El Shaddai appeared to me at Luz, in the land of Kenaan, and He blessed me and said to me, ‘I will make you fertile and numerous, making of you a community of peoples; and I will assign this land to your offspring to come, for an everlasting possession.’ Now, your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Mitzramah; before I came to you in Mitzramah, shall be mine; Ephrayim and Menashsheh shall be mine, no less than Reuben and Simeon. But progeny born to you after them shall be yours; they shall be recorded instead of their brothers, in their inheritance. I [do this because], when I was returning from Paddan, Rachel died; to my sorrow, while I was journeying in the land of Kenaan; when still some distance short of Ephrath, and I buried her there on the road to Ephrath”—now Beth Lechem.
Noticing Yehoseph’s sons, Yisrael asked, “Who are these?” And Yehoseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom Elohim has given me here.” “Bring them up to me, “he said, “that I may bless them.” Now Yisrael’s eyes were dim with age; he could not see. So [Yehoseph] brought them close to him, and he kissed them and embraced them. And Yisrael said to Yehoseph, “I never expected to see you again, and here Elohim has let me see your children as well.”
Yehoseph then removed them from his knees, and bowed low with his face to the ground. Yehoseph took the two of them, Ephrayim with his right hand—to Yisrael’s left—and Menashsheh with his left hand—to Yisrael’s right—and brought them close to him. But Yisrael stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephrayim’s head; though he was the younger and his left hand on Menashsheh’s head—thus crossing his hands—although Menashsheh was the first born. And he blessed Yehoseph, saying,
“Elohim in whose ways my father’s Abraham and Yischaq walked,
Elohim who has been my shepherd from my birth to this day—
The Angel who has redeemed me from all harm—
Bless the lads.
In them may my name be recalled,
And the names of my father’s Abraham and Yischaq,
And may they be teeming multitudes upon the earth.”
When Yehoseph saw that his father was placing his right hand on Ephrayim’s head, he thought it wrong; so he took hold of his father’s hand to move it from Ephrayim’s head to Menashsheh’s. “Not so, Father,” Yehoseph said to his father, “for the other is the first born; place your right hand on his head.” But his father objected, saying, “I know my son, I know. He too shall become a people, and he too shall be great. Yet his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall be plentiful enough for nations.” So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you shall Yisrael invoke blessings, saying; Elohim make you like Ephrayim and Menashsheh.” Thus he put Ephrayim before Menashsheh.
Then Yisrael said to Yehoseph, “I am about to die; but Elohim will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers. And now, I assign to you one portion more than to your brothers, which I wrested from the Emori with my sword and bow.”