NLT One Year Bible - Flipbook - Page 92
J A N U A R Y
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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.”
17 But 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.”
19 But 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.
21Then 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.”
49:1Then
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.
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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.
For you went to bed with my wife;
you defiled my marriage couch.
3
“Simeon and Levi are two of a kind;
their weapons are instruments of
violence.
6 May I never join in their meetings;
may I never be a party to their
plans.
For in their anger they murdered
men,
and they crippled oxen just for
sport.
7 A curse on their anger, for it is
fierce;
a curse on their wrath, for
it is cruel.
I will scatter them among the
descendants of Jacob;
I will disperse them throughout
Israel.
5
“Judah, your brothers will praise you.
You will grasp your enemies
by the neck.
All your relatives will bow before
you.
9 Judah, my son, is a young lion
that has finished eating its prey.
Like a lion he crouches and lies
down;
like a lioness—who dares to rouse
him?
10 The scepter will not depart from
Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from his
descendants,*
until the coming of the one to whom
it belongs,*
the one whom all nations
will honor.
11 He ties his foal to a grapevine,
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