Genesis 48

vayehi akhare haddevarim ha'elleh vayyomer leyosef hinneh avikha kholeh vayyiqqakh et-shene vanayw immo et-menasheh ve'et-efrayim

Some time afterward, Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

vayyagged leya'aqov vayyomer hinneh binkha yosef ba elekha vayyitkhazzeq yisra'el vayyeshev al-hammittah

When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to see you,” Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed.

vayyomer ya'aqov el-yosef el shadday nirah-elay beluz be'erets kena'an vayevarekh oti

And Jacob said to Joseph, “El Shaddai, who appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, blessed me—

vayyomer elay hinni mafrekha vehirbitikha unetattikha liqhal ammim venatatti et-ha'arets hazzot lezarakha akharekha akhuzzat olam

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.’

ve'attah shene-vanekha hannoladim lekha be'erets mitsrayim ad-bo'i elekha mitsraymah li-hem efrayim umenasheh kiruven veshimon yihyu-li

Now, your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, shall be mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine no less than Reuben and Simeon.

umoladtekha asher-holadta akharehem lekha yihyu al shem akhehem yiqqare'u benakhalatam

But progeny born to you after them shall be yours; they shall be recorded instead of their brothers in their inheritance.

va'ani bevo'i mippaddan metah alay rakhel be'erets kena'an badderekh be'od kivrat-erets lavo efratah va'eqbereha sham bederekh efrat hiv bet lakhem

I [do this because], when I was returning from Paddan, Rachel died, to my sorrow, while I was journeying in the land of Canaan, when still some distance short of Ephrath; and I buried her there on the road to Ephrath”—now Bethlehem.

vayyar yisra'el et-bene yosef vayyomer mi-elleh

Noticing Joseph’s sons, Israel asked, “Who are these?”

vayyomer yosef el-aviv banay hem asher-natan-li elohim bazeh vayyomar qakhem-na elay va'avarekhem

And Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” “Bring them up to me,” he said, “that I may bless them.”

ve'ene yisra'el kavedu mizzoqen lo yukhal lirot vayyaggesh otam elayw vayyishaq lahem vayekhabbeq lahem

Now Israel’s eyes were dim with age; he could not see. So [Joseph] brought them close to him, and he kissed them and embraced them.

vayyomer yisra'el el-yosef re'oh fanekha lo fillaleti vehinneh herah oti elohim gam et-zarekha

And Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see you again, and here God has let me see your children as well.”

vayyotse yosef otam me'im birkayw vayyishtakhu le'appayw aretsah

Joseph then removed them from his knees, and bowed low with his face to the ground.

vayyiqqakh yosef et-shenehem et-efrayim bimino missemol yisra'el ve'et-menasheh vismolo mimin yisra'el vayyaggesh elayw

Joseph took the two of them, Ephraim with his right hand—to Israel’s left—and Manasseh with his left hand—to Israel’s right—and brought them close to him.

vayyishlakh yisra'el et-yemino vayyashet al-rosh efrayim vehu hatsa'ir ve'et-semolo al-rosh menasheh sikkel et-yadayw ki menasheh habbekhor

But Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim’s head, though he was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head—thus crossing his hands—although Manasseh was the first-born.

vayevarekh et-yosef vayyomar ha'elohim asher hithallekhu avotay lefanayw avraham veyitskhaq ha'elohim haro'eh oti me'odi ad-hayyom hazzeh

And he blessed Joseph, saying, “The God in whose ways my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The God who has been my shepherd from my birth to this day—

hammalakh haggo'el oti mikkol-ra yevarekh et-hanne'arim veyiqqare vahem shemi veshem avotay avraham veyitskhaq veyidgu larov beqerev ha'arets

The Angel who has redeemed me from all harm— Bless the lads. In them may my name be recalled, And the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, And may they be teeming multitudes upon the earth.”

vayyar yosef ki-yashit aviv yad-yemino al-rosh efrayim vayyera be'enayw vayyitmokh yad-aviv lehasir otah me'al rosh-efrayim al-rosh menasheh

When Joseph saw that his father was placing his right hand on Ephraim’s head, he thought it wrong; so he took hold of his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s.

vayyomer yosef el-aviv lo-khen avi ki-zeh habbekhor sim yeminekha al-rosho

“Not so, Father,” Joseph said to his father, “for the other is the first-born; place your right hand on his head.”

vayema'en aviv vayyomer yadati veni yadati gam-hu yihyeh-lle'am vegam-hu yigdal ve'ulam akhiv haqqaton yigdal mimmennu vezaro yihyeh melo-haggoyim

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.”

vayevarekhem bayyom hahu lemor bekha yevarekh yisra'el lemor yesimkha elohim ke'efrayim vekhimnasheh vayyasem et-efrayim lifne menasheh

So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you shall Israel invoke blessings, saying: God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.” Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh.

vayyomer yisra'el el-yosef hinneh anokhi met vehayah elohim immakhem veheshiv etkhem el-erets avotekhem

Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die; but God will be with you and bring you back to your ancestors’ land.

va'ani natatti lekha shekhem akhad al-akhekha asher laqakhti miyyad ha'emori bekharbi uveqashti

And now, I assign to you one portion more than to your brothers, which I wrested from the Amorites with my sword and bow.”