Hands-On Bible Sampler - Flipbook - Page 83
page 53
So Joseph promised, “I will do as you ask.”
31“Swear that you will do it,” Jacob insisted. So
Joseph gave his oath, and Jacob bowed humbly at
the head of his bed.
CHAPTER
48
Jacob Blesses Manasseh
and Ephraim
One 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.
2 When Joseph arrived, Jacob was told, “Your
son Joseph has come to see you.” So Jacob gathered his strength and sat up in his bed.
3Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared
to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed
me. 4He 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.’
5 “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. 6But 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.
7 “Long ago, as I was returning from Paddanaram, 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.”
8Then Jacob looked over at the two boys. “Are
these your sons?” he asked.
9 “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.”
10Jacob 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. 11 Then Jacob said to Joseph, “I never
thought I would see your face again, but now God
has let me see your children, too!”
12Joseph moved the boys, who were at their
grandfather’s knees, and he bowed with his face
to the ground. 13 Then 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.
14But Jacob crossed his arms as he reached out to
lay his hands on the boys’ heads. He put his right
... Genesis 49
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. 15 Then 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,
16 the 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.”
17But 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. 18 “No, my father,” he
said. “This one is the firstborn. Put your right
hand on his head.”
19But 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.”
20So 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.
21 Then 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.
22And 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.”
CHAPTER
49
Jacob’s Last Words to His Sons
Then Jacob called together all his sons and said,
“Gather around me, and I will tell you what will
happen to each of you in the days to come.
2
“Come and listen, you sons of Jacob;
listen to Israel, your father.
“Reuben, you are my firstborn, my strength,
the child of my vigorous youth.
You are first in rank and first in power.
4 But you are as unruly as a flood,
and you will be first no longer.
3
