Genesis 48 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

Some time after this, someone told Joseph, "Your father is sick." So he took his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, with him.

When Jacob was told, "Look, your son Joseph has come to you," Israel gathered his strength and sat up in bed.

Jacob said to Joseph, "El Shaddai appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and gave me his word of promise.

He said to me, 'I am going to make you fruitful and multiply your descendants. I will make you into a community of peoples, and I will give this land to your offspring after you as a permanent possession.'

"Now then, your two sons who were born to you in Egypt before I came to you here — they are mine. Ephraim and Manasseh will be to me just like Reuben and Simeon.

"But any children born to you after them will be yours. In terms of inheritance, they will be counted under their brothers' names.

"As for me — when I was coming from Paddan, Rachel died on me in the land of Canaan, while we were still on the road, just a short distance from Ephrath. I buried her there on the road to Ephrath" (that is, Bethlehem).

When Israel noticed Joseph's sons, he asked, "Who are these?"

Joseph said to his father, "They are my sons, whom God gave me here." And Jacob said, "Bring them to me so I can place my hands on them in a declaration of good over their lives."

Now Israel's eyes were heavy with age — he could barely see. So Joseph brought them close to him, and he kissed them and held them.

Israel said to Joseph, "I never imagined I would see your face again, and now look — God has let me see your children too."

Joseph took them from between Israel's knees and bowed with his face to the ground.

Then Joseph positioned them — Ephraim on his right, toward Israel's left, and Manasseh on his left, toward Israel's right — and brought them close to him.

But Israel reached out his right hand and placed it on Ephraim's head — even though he was the younger one — and his left hand on Manasseh's head. He deliberately crossed his hands, because Manasseh was the firstborn.

Then he spoke good over Joseph and said, "The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked — the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day —

the angel who has rescued me from every harm — may he speak good over these boys. May my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac be carried through them, and may they multiply greatly across the earth."

When Joseph saw that his father had placed his right hand on Ephraim's head, it troubled him. He took hold of his father's hand to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head.

Joseph said to his father, "Not like that, Father — this one is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head."

But his father refused and said, "I know, my son, I know. He too will become a people, and he too will be great. But his younger brother will be greater than he is, and his descendants will become a multitude of nations."

So he spoke good over them that day. He said, "By your names, Israel will pronounce declarations of good, saying: 'May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.'" And he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.

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.

And to you — beyond what I give your brothers — I am giving the ridge of land that I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow."