Genesis 48

¹And so whanne these thingis weren don, it was teld to Joseph, that his fadir was sijk. And he took hise twei sones, Manasses and Effraym, and he disposide to go.

²And it was seid to the elde man, Lo! thi sone Joseph cometh to thee; which was coumfortid, and sat in the bed.

³And whanne Joseph entride to hym, he seide, Almyyti God apperide to me in Luza, which is in the lond of Canaan, and blesside me,

⁴and seide, Y schal encreesse and multiplie thee, and Y schal make thee in to cumpanyes of puplis, and Y schal yyue to thee this lond, and to thi seed aftir thee, in to euerlastinge possessioun.

⁵Therfor thi twei sones, that ben borun to thee in the lond of Egipt bifore that Y cam hidir to thee, schulen be myne, Effraym and Manasses as Ruben and Symeon schulen be arettid to me;

⁶forsothe the othere whiche thou schalt gendre aftir hem schulen be thine; and thei schulen be clepid bi the name of her britheren in her possessiouns.

⁷Forsothe whanne Y cam fro Mesopotamye, Rachel was deed to me in the lond of Canaan, in thilke weie; and it was the bigynnyng of somer; and Y entride in to Effrata, and beriede hir bisidis the weie of Effrata, which bi anothir name is clepid Bethleem.

⁸Forsothe Jacob seiy the sones of Joseph, and seide to him, Who ben these?

⁹He answeride, Thei ben my sones, whiche God yaf to me in this place. Jacob seide, Brynge hem to me that Y blesse hem.

¹⁰For `the iyen of Israel, dasewiden for greet eelde, and he myyte not se clereli; and he kisside and collide tho children ioyned to hym, and seide to his sone,

¹¹Y am not defraudid of thi siyt; ferthermore God schewide to me thi seed.

¹²And whanne Joseph hadde take hem fro `the fadris lappe, he worschipide lowe to erthe.

¹³And he sette Effraym on his riyt side, that is, on the lift side of Israel; forsothe he settide Manasses in his lift side, that is, on the riyt side of the fadir; and he ioynede bothe to hym.

¹⁴Which helde forth the riyt hond, and settide on `the heed of Effraym, the lesse brothir; sotheli he settide the left hond on `the heed of Manasses, that was the more thury birthe. Jacob chaungide `the hondes,

¹⁵and blesside his sone Joseph, and seide, God, in whos siyt my fadris Abraham and Isaac yeden; God, that fedith me fro my yong wexynge age til in to present day;

¹⁶the aungel that delyuerede me fro alle yuelis, blesse thes children, and my name be clepid on hem, and the names of my fadris Abraham and Ysaac; and wexe thei in multitude on erthe.

¹⁷Forsothe Joseph seiy that his fadir hadde set the riyt hond on the heed of Effraym, and took heuyli, and he enforside to reise the fadris hond takun fro the heed of Effraym, and to bere `ouer on `the heed of Manasses.

¹⁸And he seide to the fadir, Fadir, it acordith not so; for this is the firste gendrid; sette thi riyt hond on the heed `of hym.

¹⁹Which forsook and seide, Y woot, my sone, Y woot; and sotheli this child schal be in to puplis, and he schal be multiplied; but his yonger brother schal be more than he, and `his seed schal encreesse in to folkis.

²⁰And he blesside hem in that tyme, and seide, Israel schal be blessid in thee, Joseph, and it schal be seid, God do to thee as to Effraym and as to Manasses. And he settide Effraym bifore Manasses;

²¹and seide to Joseph, his sone, Lo! Y die, and God schal be with you, and schal lede you ayen to the lond of youre fadris;

²²Y yyue to thee o part ouer thi britheren which Y took fro the hand of Amorei, in my swerd and bowe.

Genesis 48

¹And 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.

²And one told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed.

³And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,

⁴And said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.

⁵And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, 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.

⁶And thy issue, which thou begettest after them, shall be thine, and shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance.

⁷And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel 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.

⁸And Israel beheld Joseph’s sons, and said, Who are these?

⁹And 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 bless them.

¹⁰Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see. And he brought them near unto him; and he kissed them, and embraced them.

¹¹And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath shewed me also thy seed.

¹²And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.

¹³And 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.

¹⁴And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn.

¹⁵And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day,

¹⁶The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name 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.

¹⁷And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head unto Manasseh’s head.

¹⁸And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.

¹⁹And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.

²⁰And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.

²¹And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers.

²²Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.