Genesis 48:8–20

⁸When Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he asked, “Who are these?”

⁹Joseph said to his father, “They are the sons God has given me in this place.”

So Jacob said, “Please bring them to me, that I may bless them.”

¹⁰Now Israel’s eyesight was poor because of old age; he could hardly see. Joseph brought his sons to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them.

¹¹“I never expected to see your face again,” Israel said to Joseph, “but now God has let me see your children as well.”

¹²Then Joseph removed his sons from his father’s knees and bowed facedown.

¹³And Joseph took both of them— with Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand— and brought them close to him. ¹⁴But Israel stretched out his right hand and put it on the head of Ephraim, the younger; and crossing his hands, he put his left on Manasseh’s head, although Manasseh was the firstborn. ¹⁵Then he blessed Joseph and said:

“May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,

the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,

¹⁶the angel^c who has redeemed me from all harm—

may He bless these boys.

And may they be called by my name

and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac,

and may they grow into a multitude upon the earth.”

¹⁷When Joseph saw that his father had placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, he was displeased and took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s. ¹⁸“Not so, my father!” Joseph said. “This one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”

¹⁹But his father refused. “I know, my son, I know!” he said. “He too shall become a people, and he too shall be great; nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.”

²⁰So that day Jacob blessed them and said:

“By you shall Israel pronounce this blessing:

‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’”

So he put Ephraim before Manasseh.