18 Joseph said to his father, “Not that way, my father! This one is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.”

19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know! He too will become a tribe,[a] and he too will be great; nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his offspring will become a populous nation.”[b] 20 So he blessed them that day with these words:

The nation Israel will invoke blessings by you, saying,
“May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh,”
putting Ephraim before Manasseh.

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 48:19 Lit people
  2. Genesis 48:19 Or a multitude of nations; lit a fullness of nations

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