Jacob Blesses Ephraim and Manasseh

1After this it was tolde Ioseph: Beholde, yi father is sicke. And he toke with him his two sonnes Manasses and Ephraim. 2Then was it tolde Iacob: beholde, yi sonne Ioseph cometh vnto ye. And Israel toke a corage vnto him, & sat vp vpo ye bed, 3& sayde vnto Ioseph: The Allmightye God appeared vnto me at Lus in ye lade of Canaan, & blessed me, 4& saide vnto me: Beholde, I wil cause ye to growe & increase & wyll make a multitude of people of ye, & wil geue this lade vnto yi sede after ye for an euerlastinge possession. 5Therfore shal now thy two sonnes Manasses & Ephraim (which were borne vnto the in Egipte, before I came hither vnto the) be myne, like as Ruben & Simeon. 6As for those that thou begettest after the, they shal be thine owne. But these shalbe named with the names of their brethren in their inheritaunce. 7And wha I came out of Mesopotamia, Rachel dyed by me in the lande of Canaan, by the waye, whan there was yet but a feldes brede vnto Eprath: and I buryed her in the waye towarde Ephrath, which now is called Bethleem.

8And Israel loked vpon Iosephs sonnes, & sayde: What are these? 9Ioseph answered: They are my sonnes, which God hath geuen me here. He sayde: Brynge the hither to me, yt I maye blesse the. 10(For Israels eyes were heuy for age, & he coude not well se.) And he brought the vnto him. So he kyssed them, & enbraced the, 11& saide vnto Ioseph: Beholde, I haue sene yi face, which I thought not: & lo, God hath caused me to se yi sede also. 12And Ioseph toke them from his lappe, and they fell downe to the grounde vpon their face. 13Then Ioseph toke them both, Ephraim in his right hande towarde Israels left hade, and Manasses in his left hande towarde Israels right hade, & brought the vnto him. 14But Israel stretched out his right hande, & layed it vpo ye heade of Ephraim ye yogest & his left hande vpo Manasses heade, & did so wyttingly wt his handes, for Manasses was ye firstborne.

15And he blessed Ioseph, & saide: The God before who my fathers Abraha & Isaac haue walked: ye God yt hath fed me my lyfe longe vnto this daye:

16the angell which hath delyuered me fro all euell, blesse these laddes, yt they maye be called after my name, & after ye name of my fathers Abraha & Isaac, yt they maye growe & multiplye vpon earth.

17But wha Ioseph sawe yt his father layed ye right hade vpo Ephraims heade, it displeased him, & he lift vp his fathers hande, to remoue it fro Ephraims heade vnto ye heade of Manasses, 18& sayde vnto him: Not so my father, this is ye firstborne, laye yi right hade vpo his heade. 19Neuertheles his father wolde not, & saide: I knowe it well my sonne, I knowe it well, this shall be a people also, & shalbe greate: but his yonger brother shal be greater the he, & his sede shal be full of people.

20So he blessed them the same daye & saide: In ye shal Israel blesse, so yt it shal be sayde: God set the as Ephraim & Manasses. And so he set Ephraim aboue Manasses.

21And Israel saide vnto Ioseph: Beholde, I dye, & God shall be wt you, & brynge you agayne in to ye lande of youre fathers. 22I haue geuen the a pece of londe, without ye brethren, which I gat with my swerde and my bowe out of the hande of the Amorites.