A modern English translation drawn directly from the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. Translated word-for-word where possible, by a committee with scholarly oversight.
Uses the same source texts as the ESV, NASB, and most academic Bibles, including the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia and the Nestle-Aland critical edition.
Genesis 48
Genesis 48 is the forty-eighth chapter of the book of Genesis and the chapter in which Jacob blesses Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. The 22-verse chapter contains the famous moment when Jacob crosses his hands to place his right hand on the younger son, adopts the two boys as his own, and elevates the line of Joseph in the inheritance.
The chapter opens with word reaching Joseph that his father is ill. He takes his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, and goes to him. When Israel is told that Joseph has come, he gathers his strength and sits up in bed.
Jacob recalls God's appearance to him at Luz in Canaan and the promise that came with it: "I will make you fruitful and multiply you; I will make you a multitude of peoples." He then declares Ephraim and Manasseh his own sons, as much his as Reuben and Simeon. Any other children Joseph has after them will be counted in their brothers' inheritance. He mentions Rachel's death near Ephrath.
Israel notices the boys and asks who they are. Joseph answers that they are the sons God has given him. Israel kisses and embraces them, and says he never expected to see Joseph's face again, and God has let him see his children also.
Joseph takes the boys from his father's knees and bows his face to the ground. He places Manasseh, the older, by Jacob's left hand, and Ephraim, the younger, by Jacob's right. Jacob crosses his hands. He puts his right hand on Ephraim's head, though he is the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh's head, the firstborn.
He blesses Joseph and says, "The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life, the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, may He bless these boys."
Joseph sees that his father's right hand is on Ephraim and is displeased. He tries to move it onto Manasseh. Jacob refuses. He knows. Manasseh will also become a people and will also be great. But his younger brother will be greater, and his descendants will become a multitude of nations. Jacob blesses them that day, saying, "By you Israel will pronounce this blessing: 'May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.'" So he sets Ephraim before Manasseh.
Then Israel says to Joseph, "I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you back to the land of your fathers." He tells Joseph that he has given him one ridge of land more than to his brothers, the slope he took from the Amorites with his sword and bow.
Verse 1. Some time later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he set out with his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
Verse 2. When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel rallied his strength and sat up in bed.
Verse 3. Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there He blessed me
Verse 4. and told me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you; I will make you a multitude of peoples, and will give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.’
Verse 5. And now your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here shall be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine.
Verse 6. Any children born to you after them shall be yours, and they shall be called by the names of their brothers in the territory they inherit.
Verse 7. Now as for me, when I was returning from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died along the way in the land of Canaan, some distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).
Verse 8. When Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he asked, “Who are these?”
Verse 9. Joseph said to his father, “They are the sons God has given me in this place.” So Jacob said, “Please bring them to me, that I may bless them.”
Verse 10. Now Israel’s eyesight was poor because of old age; he could hardly see. Joseph brought his sons to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them.
Verse 11. “I never expected to see your face again,” Israel said to Joseph, “but now God has let me see your children as well.”
Verse 12. Then Joseph removed his sons from his father’s knees and bowed facedown.
Verse 13. And Joseph took both of them—with Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand—and brought them close to him.
Verse 14. But Israel stretched out his right hand and put it on the head of Ephraim, the younger; and crossing his hands, he put his left on Manasseh’s head, although Manasseh was the firstborn.
Verse 15. Then he blessed Joseph and said: “May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,
Verse 16. the angel who has redeemed me from all harm—may He bless these boys. And may they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they grow into a multitude upon the earth.”
Verse 17. When Joseph saw that his father had placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, he was displeased and took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s.
Verse 18. “Not so, my father!” Joseph said. “This one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”
Verse 19. But his father refused. “I know, my son, I know!” he said. “He too shall become a people, and he too shall be great; nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.”
Verse 20. So that day Jacob blessed them and said: “By you shall Israel pronounce this blessing: ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’” So he put Ephraim before Manasseh.
Verse 21. Then Israel said to Joseph, “Look, I am about to die, but God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers.
Verse 22. And to you, as one who is above your brothers, I give the ridge of land that I took from the Amorites with my sword and bow.”
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