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Rh when there was still some way to come unto Ephrath; and I buried her there in the way to Ephrath—the same is Beth-lehem.' And Israel beheld Joseph's sons, and said: 'Who are these?' And Joseph said unto his father: 'They are my sons, whom God hath given me here.' And he said: 'Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them.' 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. And Israel said unto Joseph: 'I had not thought to see thy face; and, lo, God hath let me see thy seed also.' And Joseph brought them out from between his knees; and he fell down on his face to the earth. 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. 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 first-born. And he blessed Joseph, and said: 'The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God who hath been my shepherd all my life long unto this day, the angel who hath redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named in them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.' And when Joseph saw that his father was laying 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. And Joseph said unto his father: 'Not so, my father, for this is the first-born; put thy right hand upon his head.' 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; howbeit his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.' And he blessed them that day, saying: 'By thee shall Israel bless, saying: God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh.' And he set Ephraim before Manasseh. And Israel said unto Joseph: 'Behold, I die; but God will be with you, and bring you back unto the land of your fathers. Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.'

And Jacob called unto his sons, and said: 'Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the end of days.


 * Assemble yourselves, and hear, ye sons of Jacob;
 * And hearken unto Israel your father.
 * Reuben, thou art my first-born,
 * My might, and the first-fruits of my strength;
 * The excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power.
 * Unstable as water, have not thou the excellency;
 * Because thou wentest up to thy father's bed;
 * Then defiledst thou it—he went up to my couch.


 * Simeon and Levi are brethren;
 * Weapons of violence their kinship.
 * Let my soul not come into their council;
 * Unto their assembly let my glory not be not united;