Genesis 48 · Parashat Vayechi

And it came to pass after these things, that one told Yosef, Behold, thy father is sick: and he took with him his two sons, Menashshe and Efrayim.

And one told Ya῾aqov, and said, Behold, thy son Yosef comes to thee: and Yisra᾽el strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed.

And Ya῾aqov said to Yosef, God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Kena῾an, and blessed me,

and said to 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.

And now thy two sons, Efrayim and Menashshe, who were born to thee in the land of Miżrayim before I came to thee into Miżrayim, are mine; as Re᾽uven and Shim῾on they shall be mine.

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

And as for me, when I came from Paddan, Raĥel died by me in the land of Kena῾an on the way, when yet there was but a little way to come to Efrat: and I buried her there in the way of Efrat; that is Bet-leĥem.

And Yisra᾽el beheld Yosef’s sons, and said, Who are these?

And Yosef said to his father, They are my sons, whom God has given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, to me, and I will bless them.

Now the eyes of Yisra᾽el were dim from age, so that he could not see. And he brought them near to him; and he kissed them, and embraced them.

And Yisra᾽el said to Yosef, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God has shown me also thy children.

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

And Yosef took them both, Efrayim in his right hand toward Yisra᾽el’s left hand, and Menashshe in his left hand toward Yisra᾽el’s right hand, and he presented them to him.

And Yisra᾽el stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Efrayim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Menashshe’s head, changing his hands; for Menashshe was the first-born.

And he blessed Yosef, and said, God, before Whom my fathers Avraham and Yiżĥaq did walk, the God Who has been my shepherd all my life long until this day,

the angel who redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Avraham and Yiżĥaq; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.

And when Yosef saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Efrayim, it displeased him: and he held up his father’s hand, to remove it from Efrayim’s head to Menashshe’s head.

And Yosef said to 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 great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.

And he blessed them that day, saying, By thee shall Yisra᾽el bless, saying, God make thee as Efrayim and as Menashshe: and he set Efrayim before Menashshe.

And Yisra᾽el said to Yosef, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you back to the land of your fathers.

Moreover I have given to thee one portion more than thy brothers, which I took out of the hand of the Emori with my sword and with my bow.