(that is, Bethlehem).
8 When Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he asked, 'Who are these?'
9 'They are the sons God has given me here,' Joseph said to his father. Then Israel said, 'Bring them to me so I may bless them.'
10 Now Israel's eyes were failing because of old age, and he could hardly see. So Joseph brought his sons close to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them.
11 Israel said to Joseph, 'I never expected to see your face again, and now God has allowed me to see your children too.'
12 Then Joseph removed them from Israel's knees and bowed down with his face to the ground.
13 And Joseph took both of them, Ephraim on his right toward Israel's left hand and Manasseh on his left toward Israel's right hand, and brought them close to him.
14 But Israel reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim's head, though he was the younger, and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on Manasseh's head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn.
15 Then 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,
16 the Angel who has delivered me from all harm -may he bless these boys. May they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they increase greatly upon the earth.'
17 When Joseph saw his father placing his right hand on Ephraim's head he was displeased; so he took hold of his father's hand to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head.
18 Joseph said to him, 'No, 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 people, and he too will become great. Nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become a group of nations.'
20 He blessed them that day and said, 'In your name will Israel pronounce this blessing: 'May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.' ' So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.
21 Then Israel said to Joseph, 'I am about to die, but God will be with you and take you back to the land of your fathers.
22 And to you, as one who is over your brothers, I give the ridge of land I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow.'
49 Then Jacob called for his sons and said: 'Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come.
2 'Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob; listen to your father Israel.
3 'Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, the first sign of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power.
4 Turbulent as the waters, you will no longer excel, for you went up onto your father's bed, onto my couch and defiled it.
5 'Simeon and Levi are brothers- their swords are weapons of violence.
6 Let me not enter their council, let me not join their assembly, for they have killed men in their anger and hamstrung oxen as they pleased.
7 Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel! I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel.
8 'Judah, your brothers will praise you; your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; your father's sons will bow down to you.
9 You are a lion's cub, O Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness-who dares to rouse him?
10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his.
11 He will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch; he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.
12 His eyes will be darker than wine, his teeth whiter than milk.
13 'Zebulun will live by the seashore and become a haven for ships; his border will extend toward Sidon.
14 'Issachar is a rawboned donkey lying down between two saddlebags.
15 When he sees how good is his resting place and how pleasant is his land, he will bend his shoulder to the burden and submit to forced labor.
16 'Dan will provide justice for his people as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan will be a serpent by the roadside, a viper along the path, that bites the horse's heels so that its rider tumbles backward.
18 'I look for your deliverance, O Lord .
19 'Gad will be attacked by a band of raiders, but he will attack them at their heels.
