Genesis 48
Hands Crossed Over the Younger
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Israel’s Covenant Remembrance
48:1And it came to pass after these things that it was reported to Joseph, “Behold, your father is ailing.” So he took his two sons with him, Manasseh and Ephraim, and went to Jacob.
48:2And it was reported to Jacob, saying, “Behold, your son Joseph is coming to you.” Then Israel gathered his strength and sat up on the bed.
48:3And Jacob said to Joseph, “My God appeared to me at Luz, in the land of Canaan, and blessed me.”
48:4“He said to me, ‘I will increase and multiply you. I will make you assemblies of nations and give this land to you and your seed after you as an everlasting possession.’”
48:5“And now, your two sons who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, belong to me; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine.”
48:6“Any children you beget after these will be yours; they will be called by their brothers’ names within their allotments.”
48:7“When I came from Mesopotamia of Syria, your mother Rachel died in Canaan as I approached the horse-course of Chabratha on the way to Ephrath. I buried her on the road of the horse-course, which is Bethlehem.”
Israel’s Cross-Hand Blessing
48:8Then Israel saw Joseph’s sons and said, “Who are these to you?”
48:9And Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” And Jacob said, “Bring them to me, so that I may bless them.”
48:10Israel’s eyes were dim with age, and he could not see. Joseph brought them near him, and he kissed and embraced them.
48:11Israel said to Joseph, “I have not been deprived of your face, and now God has shown me your seed as well.”
48:12Joseph brought them away from his knees, and they bowed before him with their faces to the ground.
48:13And Joseph took them both—Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel’s left, and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel’s right—and brought them close to him.
48:14Israel stretched out his right hand and placed it on Ephraim’s head, though he was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, with his hands crossed.
48:15He blessed them and said, “The God whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac pleased, the God who has nourished me from youth to this day,”
48:16“the Angel who delivers me from all evils, bless these children. My name and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac will be called upon them, and may they multiply into a great multitude on the earth.”
48:17When Joseph saw that his father had placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, he was displeased. He took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s.
48:18And Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father! For this one is the firstborn; place your right hand upon his head.”
48:19He refused and said, “I know, child, I know. He too will become a people and be exalted. But his younger brother will be greater than he, and his seed will become a multitude of nations.”
48:20He blessed them that day, saying, “In you Israel will be blessed, saying, ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’” He placed Ephraim before Manasseh.
48:21Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die; but God will be with you and will return you to the land of your fathers.”
48:22“I give you Shechem as a choice portion beyond your brothers, which I took from the Amorites with my sword and bow.”
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Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V1 · working draft awaiting specialist review.