Gen 48, 49:2-33, 50:15-17, Job 1:4-5, Isa 5:11-12, 22:12-14 | ESV | STEP | After this , Joseph was told , Behold , your father is ill . So he took with him his two sons , Manasseh and Ephraim .

1 After this, Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is ill.” So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 2 And it was told to Jacob, “Your son Joseph has come to you.” Then Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed. 3 And Jacob said to Joseph, ^a“God Almighty ^{▼▼Hebrew El Shaddai} appeared to me at ^cLuz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, 4 and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples and will give this land to your offspring after you ^dfor an everlasting possession.’ 5 And now your ^etwo sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, ^fare mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are. 6 And the children that you fathered after them shall be yours. They shall be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. 7 As for me, when I came from Paddan, to my sorrow ^gRachel died in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance ^{▼▼Or about two hours’ distance} to go to Ephrath, and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”

8 When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?” 9 Joseph said to his father, ⁱ“They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” And he said, “Bring them to me, please, that ^jI may bless them.” 10 Now ^kthe eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. So Joseph brought them near him, ^land he kissed them and embraced them. 11 And Israel said to Joseph, ^m“I never expected to see your face; and behold, God has let me see your offspring also.” 12 Then Joseph removed them from his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. 13 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 him. 14 ⁿAnd Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, ^ocrossing his hands (for Manasseh was the firstborn). 15 And he blessed Joseph and said,

“The God ^pbefore whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,
the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day,
16 ^qthe angel who has ^rredeemed me from all evil, bless the boys;
and in them let ^smy name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac;
and let them ^tgrow into a multitude ^{▼▼Or let them be like fish for multitude} in the midst of the earth.”
17 When Joseph saw that his father ^vlaid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 18 And Joseph said to his father, “Not this way, my father; since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head.” 19 But his father refused and said, ^w“I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless, ^xhis younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude ^{▼▼Hebrew fullness} of nations.” 20 So he blessed them that day, saying,

“By you Israel will pronounce blessings, saying,
^z‘God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh.’”
Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh. 21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but ^aaGod will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers. 22 Moreover, I have given to ^abyou rather than to your brothers one mountain slope ^{▼▼Or one portion of the land; Hebrew shekem, which sounds like the town and district called Shechem} that I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.”

Genesis 49:2-33

2 “Assemble and listen, O sons of Jacob,
listen to Israel your father.
3 “Reuben, you are ^admy firstborn,
my might, and the ^aefirstfruits of my strength,
preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.
4 Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence,
because you ^afwent up to your father’s bed;
then you defiled it—he went up to my couch!
5 ^ag“Simeon and Levi are brothers;
weapons ^ahof violence are their swords.
6 Let my soul come not into their council;
^aiO my glory, ^ajbe not joined to their company.
For in their anger they killed men,
and in their willfulness they ^akhamstrung oxen.
7 Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,
and their wrath, for it is cruel!
I will ^aldivide them in Jacob
and scatter them in Israel.
8 “Judah, ^amyour brothers shall praise you;
^anyour hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
^aoyour father’s sons shall bow down before you.
9 Judah is ^apa lion’s cub;
from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
^aqHe stooped down; he crouched as a lion
and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?
10 The ^arscepter shall not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff ^asfrom between his feet,
until tribute comes to him; ^{▼▼By a slight revocalization; a slight emendation yields (compare Septuagint, Syriac, Targum) until he comes to whom it belongs; Hebrew until Shiloh comes, or until he comes to Shiloh}
and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
11 Binding his foal to the vine
and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,
he has washed his garments in wine
and his vesture in the blood of grapes.
12 His ^aueyes are darker than wine,
and his teeth whiter than milk.
13 ^av“Zebulun shall dwell at the ^awshore of the sea;
he shall become a haven for ships,
and his border shall be at Sidon.
14 ^ax“Issachar is a strong donkey,
crouching between the sheepfolds. ^{▼▼Or between its saddlebags}
15 He saw that a resting place was good,
and that the land was pleasant,
so he bowed his shoulder to bear,
and ^azbecame a servant at forced labor.
16 ^ba“Dan shall ^bbjudge his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan ^bcshall be a serpent in the way,
a viper by the path,
that bites the horse’s heels
so that his rider falls backward.
18 I ^bdwait for your salvation, O Lord.
19 ^be“Raiders shall raid ^bfGad, ^{▼▼ Gad sounds like the Hebrew for raiders and raid}
but he shall raid at their heels.
20 ^bh“Asher’s food shall be rich,
and he shall yield royal delicacies.
21 ^bi“Naphtali is a doe let loose
that bears beautiful fawns. ^{▼▼Or he gives beautiful words, or that bears fawns of the fold}
22 “Joseph is ^bka fruitful bough,
a fruitful bough by a spring;
his branches run over the wall. ^{▼▼Or Joseph is a wild donkey, a wild donkey beside a spring, his wild colts beside the wall}
23 The archers ^bmbitterly attacked him,
shot at him, and harassed him severely,
24 yet ^bnhis bow remained unmoved;
his arms ^{▼▼Hebrew the arms of his hands} were made agile
by the hands of the ^bpMighty One of Jacob
(from there is ^bqthe Shepherd, ^{▼▼Or by the name of the Shepherd} ^bsthe Stone of Israel),
25 ^btby the God of your father who will help you,
by ^buthe Almighty ^{▼▼Hebrew Shaddai} ^bwwho will bless you
with blessings of heaven above,
blessings of the deep that crouches beneath,
blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
26 The blessings of your father
are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents,
up to the bounties ^bxof the everlasting hills. ^{▼▼A slight emendation yields (compare Septuagint) the blessings of the eternal mountains, the bounties of the everlasting hills}
May they be ^bzon the head of Joseph,
and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.
27 ^ca“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf,
in the morning devouring the prey
and at evening ^cbdividing the spoil.”

Jacob’s Death and Burial

28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him. 29 Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am to be ^ccgathered to my people; ^cdbury me with my fathers ^cein the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, ^cfwhich Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. 31 ^cgThere they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There ^chthey buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah— 32 the field and the cave that is in it were bought from the Hittites.” 33 When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and ^ciwas gathered to his people.

Genesis 50:15-17

God’s Good Purposes

15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.” 16 So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this command before he died: 17 ‘Say to Joseph, “Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.”’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of ^cjthe God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him.

Job 1:4-5

4 His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and ^ckconsecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and ^cloffer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned, and ^cmcursed ^{▼▼The Hebrew word bless is used euphemistically for curse in 1:5, 11; 2:5, 9} God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually.

Isaiah 5:11-12

11 Woe to those who ^corise early in the morning,
that they may run after strong drink,
who tarry late into the evening
as wine inflames them!
12 ^cpThey have lyre and harp,
tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts,
^cqbut they do not regard the deeds of the Lord,
or see the work of his hands.

Isaiah 22:12-14

12 In that day ^crthe Lord God of hosts
called for weeping and mourning,
for ^csbaldness and ^ctwearing sackcloth;
13 and behold, joy and gladness,
killing oxen and slaughtering sheep,
eating flesh and drinking wine.
^cu“Let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we die.”
14 The Lord of hosts ^cvhas revealed himself in my ears:
“Surely ^cwthis iniquity will not be atoned for you ^cxuntil you die,”
says the Lord God of hosts.