When Israel noticed Joseph’s two sons, he said, “Who are these?”
“They are the sons that God has graciously given me here,” Joseph said to his father.
“Please bring them closer,” he said, “so that I may bless them.”
Now Israel could barely see, for his eyes were failing because of old age. So, Joseph brought his sons closer to him, and Joseph’s father, their grandfather, hugged and kissed them.
Tearfully, Israel said to Joseph, “I never thought I’d see your face again, and now, God has let me see my grandchildren as well!”
Joseph then removed them from his father’s knees and bowed low in respect before his father with his face to the ground. And Joseph took his sons and had them stand facing their grandfather Israel, Ephraim at Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh at Israel’s right hand. But Israel crossed his arms, and stretched out his right hand on the head of the younger son, Ephraim, and his left hand on the head of the firstborn son, Manasseh. He spoke this blessing over them:
“May the God of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, who lived devoted to him,
the God who has been my Shepherd from my birth until this day,
the Angel who has delivered me from all harm,
may he bless these boys!
May their lives echo my name,
and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac.
May they multiply into teeming multitudes throughout the earth!”
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