Jacob tells of the appearance of God to him in Luz—He adopts Ephraim and Manasseh as his own children—Jacob blesses Joseph—He puts Ephraim before Manasseh—Seed of Ephraim shall become a multitude of nations—Israel shall come again into the land of their fathers.

 AND it came to pass after these things, that one told Joseph, Behold, thy father is sick: and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

 And one told ^aJacob^•, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee: and Israel ^bstrengthened^• himself, and sat upon the bed.

 And Jacob said unto Joseph, God ^aAlmighty^{• b}appeared^• unto me at ^cLuz^• in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,

 And said unto me, Behold, I will make thee ^afruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this ^bland to thy seed after thee for an everlasting ^cpossession^•.

 ¶ ^aAnd^• now thy two sons, ^bEphraim and ^cManasseh^•, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.

 And thy issue, which thou begettest after them, shall be thine, and shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance.

 And as for me, when I came from Padan, ^aRachel^• died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when yet there was but a little way to come unto Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath; the same is Beth-lehem.

 And Israel beheld Joseph’s sons, and said, Who are these?

 And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will ^abless^• them.

 Now the eyes of Israel were ^adim^• for age, so that he could not see. And he brought them ^bnear^• unto him; and he kissed them, and embraced them.

 And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath shewed me also thy seed.

 And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.

 And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near unto him.

 And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon ^aEphraim^•’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh’s head, ^bguiding^• his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn.

 ¶ And he blessed ^aJoseph^•, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did ^bwalk, the God which ^cfed^• me all my life long unto this day.

 The ^aAngel^• which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my ^bname be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.

 And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right ^ahand upon the head of ^bEphraim, ^cit^• displeased him: and he held up his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head unto Manasseh’s head.

 And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.

 And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be ^agreat^•: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his ^bseed shall become a ^cmultitude^• of ^dnations^•.

 And he blessed them that day, saying, ^aIn^• thee shall Israel ^bbless^•, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set ^cEphraim^• before Manasseh.

 And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but ^aGod^• shall be with you, and ^bbring you again unto the ^cland of your fathers.

 Moreover I have given to thee one ^aportion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.