GENESIS Chapter 48
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48:1 Some time later Joseph was told that his father was ill.
So he took his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, and went to see Jacob. |
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48:2 When Jacob was
told that his son Joseph had come to see him, he
gathered his strength and sat up in bed. |
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48:3 Jacob said to
Joseph, "Almighty God appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and
blessed me. |
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48:4 He said to me,
'I will give you many children, so that your descendants will become many
nations; I will give this land to your descendants as their possession
forever.' " |
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48:5 Jacob continued,
"Joseph, your two sons, who were born to you in Egypt before I came
here, belong to me; Ephraim and Manasseh are just as much my sons as Reuben
and Simeon. |
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48:6 If you have
any more sons, they will not be considered mine; the inheritance they get
will come through Ephraim and Manasseh. |
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48:7 I am doing this because of your mother Rachel. To my great
sorrow she died in the land of Canaan, not far from Ephrath,
as I was returning from Mesopotamia. I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath." (Ephrath is now
known as Bethlehem.) |
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48:8
When Jacob
saw Joseph's sons, he asked, "Who are these boys?" |
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48:9 Joseph
answered, "These are my sons, whom God has given me here in Egypt."
Jacob said, "Bring them to me so that I may bless them." |
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48:10 Jacob's
eyesight was failing because of his age, and he could not see very well.
Joseph brought the boys to him, and he hugged them and kissed them. |
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48:11 Jacob said to
Joseph, "I never expected to see you again, and now God has even let me
see your children." |
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48:12
Then Joseph
took them from Jacob's lap and bowed down before him with his face to the
ground. |
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48:13 Joseph put
Ephraim at Jacob's left and Manasseh at his right. |
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48:14 But Jacob
crossed his hands, and put his right hand on the head of Ephraim, even though
he was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, who was the
older. |
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48:15 Then he
blessed Joseph: "May God, whom my fathers
Abraham and Isaac served, bless these boys! May God, who has led me to this
very day, bless them! |
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48:16 May the angel,
who has rescued me from all harm, bless them! May my name and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac live on through these boys! May
they have many children, many descendants!" |
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48:17 Joseph was
upset when he saw that his father had put his right hand on Ephraim's head;
so he took his father's hand to move it from Ephraim's head to the head of
Manasseh. |
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48:18 He said to his
father, "Not that way, father. This is the older boy; put your right
hand on his head." |
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48:19 His father refused,
saying, "I know, son, I know. Manasseh's descendants will also become a
great people. But his younger brother will be greater than he, and his
descendants will become great nations." |
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48:20 So he blessed
them that day, saying, "The Israelites will use your names when they
pronounce blessings. They will say, 'May God make
you like Ephraim and Manasseh.' " In this way
Jacob put Ephraim before Manasseh. |
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48:21 Then Jacob
said to Joseph, "As you see, I am about to die, but God will be with you
and will take you back to the land of your ancestors. |
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48:22 It is to you
and not to your brothers that I am giving Shechem,
that fertile region which I took from the Amorites with my sword and my
bow." |
CHAPTER ENDS
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