Genesis:48:5-20
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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 .
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And thy issue ,
which thou begettest after them ,
shall be thine ,
and shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance .
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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 .
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And Israel beheld Joseph '
s sons ,
and said ,
Who are these ?
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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 .
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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 .
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And Israel said unto Joseph ,
I had not thought to see thy face :
and ,
lo ,
God hath shewed me also thy seed .
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And Joseph brought them out from between his knees ,
and he bowed himself with his face to the earth .
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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 .
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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 .
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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 ,
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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 .
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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 .
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And Joseph said unto his father ,
Not so ,
my father :
for this is the firstborn ;
put thy right hand upon his head .
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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 .
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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 .