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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>Genesis 48 NLT</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/genesis/48.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/genesis/48-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">NLT</a> > Genesis 48</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../genesis/47.htm" title="Genesis 47">◄</a> Genesis 48 <a href="../genesis/49.htm" title="Genesis 49">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">New Living Translation</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/nlt/esv/genesis/48.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></td></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="hdg">Jacob Blesses Manasseh and Ephraim</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/48-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>One day not long after this, word came to Joseph, “Your father is failing rapidly.” So Joseph went to visit his father, and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/48-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>When Joseph arrived, Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to see you.” So Jacob<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">a</span></a> gathered his strength and sat up in his bed.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/48-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">b</span></a> appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/48-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>He said to me, ‘I will make you fruitful, and I will multiply your descendants. I will make you a multitude of nations. And I will give this land of Canaan to your descendants<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">c</span></a> after you as an everlasting possession.’</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/48-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>“Now I am claiming as my own sons these two boys of yours, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born here in the land of Egypt before I arrived. They will be my sons, just as Reuben and Simeon are. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/48-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>But any children born to you in the future will be your own, and they will inherit land within the territories of their brothers Ephraim and Manasseh.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/48-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>“Long ago, as I was returning from Paddan-aram,<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">d</span></a> Rachel died in the land of Canaan. We were still on the way, some distance from Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). So with great sorrow I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath.”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/48-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>Then Jacob looked over at the two boys. “Are these your sons?” he asked.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/48-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>“Yes,” Joseph told him, “these are the sons God has given me here in Egypt.”</p><p class="reg">And Jacob said, “Bring them closer to me, so I can bless them.”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/48-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>Jacob was half blind because of his age and could hardly see. So Joseph brought the boys close to him, and Jacob kissed and embraced them. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/48-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>Then Jacob said to Joseph, “I never thought I would see your face again, but now God has let me see your children, too!”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/48-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>Joseph moved the boys, who were at their grandfather’s knees, and he bowed with his face to the ground. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/48-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>Then he positioned the boys in front of Jacob. With his right hand he directed Ephraim toward Jacob’s left hand, and with his left hand he put Manasseh at Jacob’s right hand. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/48-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>But Jacob crossed his arms as he reached out to lay his hands on the boys’ heads. He put his right hand on the head of Ephraim, though he was the younger boy, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, though he was the firstborn. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/48-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>Then he blessed Joseph and said,</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1">“May the God before whom my grandfather Abraham</p><p class="line2">and my father, Isaac, walked—</p><p class="line1">the God who has been my shepherd</p><p class="line2">all my life, to this very day,</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/48-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>the Angel who has redeemed me from all harm—</p><p class="line2">may he bless these boys.</p><p class="line1">May they preserve my name</p><p class="line2">and the names of Abraham and Isaac.</p><p class="line1">And may their descendants multiply greatly</p><p class="line2">throughout the earth.”</p><p class="b"/><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/48-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>But Joseph was upset when he saw that his father placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head. So Joseph lifted it to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/48-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>“No, my father,” he said. “This one is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/48-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>But his father refused. “I know, my son; I know,” he replied. “Manasseh will also become a great people, but his younger brother will become even greater. And his descendants will become a multitude of nations.”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/48-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>So Jacob blessed the boys that day with this blessing: “The people of Israel will use your names when they give a blessing. They will say, ‘May God make you as prosperous as Ephraim and Manasseh.’” In this way, Jacob put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/48-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>Then Jacob said to Joseph, “Look, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will take you back to Canaan, the land of your ancestors. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/48-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>And beyond what I have given your brothers, I am giving you an extra portion of the land<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">e</span></a> that I took from the Amorites with my sword and bow.”</p><A name="footnotes"></a><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="fn">a</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">48:2 </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="it">Israel;</span><span class="ft"> also in 48:8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 21. See note on 35:21.</span><br><span class="fn">b</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">48:3 </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="it">El-Shaddai.</span><br><span class="fn">c</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">48:4 </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="it">seed;</span><span class="ft"> also in 48:19.</span><br><span class="fn">d</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">48:7 </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="it">Paddan,</span><span class="ft"> referring to Paddan-aram; compare Gen 35:9.</span><br><span class="fn">e</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">48:22 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="it">an extra ridge of land.</span><span class="ft"> The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.</span><br></span></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><em>Holy Bible</em>, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. 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