Genesis 48

¹After these things, it was told Joseph that his father was sick: and he set out to go to him, taking his two sons Manasses and Ephraim.

²And it was told the old man: Behold thy son Joseph cometh to thee. And being strengthened he sat on his bed.

³And when Joseph was come in to him, he said: God Almighty appeared to me at Luza, which is in the land of Chanaan: and he blessed me,

⁴And he said: I will cause thee to increase and multiply, and I will make of thee a multitude of people: and I will give this land to thee, and to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.

⁵So thy two sons who were born to thee in the land of Egypt before I came hither to thee, shall be mine: Ephraim and Manasses shall be reputed to me as Ruben and Simeon.

⁶But the rest whom thou shalt have after them, shall be thine, and shall be called by the name of their brethren in their possessions.

⁷For, when I came out of Mesopotamia, Rachel died from me in the land of Chanaan in the very journey, and it was springtime: and I was going to Ephrata, and I buried her near the way of Ephrata, which by another name is called Bethlehem.

⁸Then seeing his sons, he said to him: Who are these?

⁹He answered: They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said: Bring them to me that I may bless them.

¹⁰For Israel’s eyes were dim by reason of his great age, and he could not see clearly. And when they were brought to him, he kissed and embraced them.

¹¹And said to his son: I am not deprived of seeing thee: moreover God hath showed me thy seed.