In Genesis 48, Jacob’s final words were recorded as he gave a blessing from God unto the sons of Joseph. The 21 verses depict the details of the blessing and the prediction that Ephraim’s lineage would be greater than that of Manasseh’s.

Joseph’s Father

After his family had been in Egypt for 17 years, Joseph was informed that his father’s health was failing. So Joseph took his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim and went to visit his father. When they arrived at Jacob’s home, he was informed that Joseph had come to visit him. Jacob sat on his bed and called for the visitors. He informed them that the Lord God had appeared to him in Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed him. Moreover, God had told Israel that He would make him fruitful and multiply his descendants so as to become a great nation.

Jacob and Joseph’s Sons

Jacob then told Joseph that although Manasseh and Ephraim were born in the land of Egypt and not in the home of their ancestors, he accepted them into his family and considered them his grandsons. He told Joseph of how Rachel had died in Canaan and was buried in Ephrath, Bethlehem. Joseph brought his two sons near to their grandfather, since Jacob’s sight had waned and he could not see them. Joseph placed Jacob’s left hand on Manasseh’s head and his right onto Ephraim’s head. Jacob prayed for them and then blessed them.

Blessing Joseph and His Sons

Jacob then stretched out his hands and laid them on his grandsons. He blessed Joseph and prayed that his two grandsons be blessed by the God of Abraham and his father Isaac. Joseph noticed that his father had placed his right hand on Ephraim, who was the youngest. He tried to correct his father and lay Jacob’s right hand on Manasseh. However, Jacob refused and told him that he knew that he had placed his right hand on the youngest. Jacob told them that although Manasseh’s line would multiply and become great, Ephraim’s generations would become a greater multitude of nations. Jacob blessed them all and told them that although he was dying, God would be with them and would take them back to Canaan.

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Genesis Chapter 48 (King James Version)

1 And 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.
2 And one told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed.
3 And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,
4 And 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.
5 And 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.
6 And thy issue, which thou begettest after them, shall be thine, and shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance.
7 And 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 Bethlehem.
8 And Israel beheld Joseph’s sons, and said, Who are these?
9 And 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.
10 Now 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.
11 And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath shewed me also thy seed.
12 And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.
13 And 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.
14 And 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.
15 And 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,
16 The 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.
17 And 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.
18 And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.
19 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.
20 And 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.
21 And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers.
22 Moreover 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.

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