Study Desk

Then Jacob gave the king his blessing once again and left.

Joseph obeyed the king's orders and gave his father and brothers some of the best land in Egypt near the city of Rameses.

Don't let us starve and our land be ruined. If you'll give us grain to eat and seed to plant, we'll sell ourselves and our land to the king. We'll become his slaves.

"Will you give me your word?" Jacob asked. "Yes, I will," Joseph promised. After this, Jacob bowed down and prayed at the head of his bed.

Joseph was told that his father Jacob had become very sick. So Joseph went to see him and took along his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

When Joseph arrived, someone told Jacob, "Your son Joseph has come to see you." Jacob sat up in bed, but it took almost all his strength.

Jacob told Joseph: God All-Powerful appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, where he gave me his blessing

Then Joseph made his sons move away from Jacob's knees, and Joseph bowed down in front of him with his face to the ground.

After Joseph got up, he brought his two sons over to Jacob again. He led his younger son Ephraim to the left side of Jacob and his older son Manasseh to the right.

But before Jacob gave them his blessing, he crossed his arms, putting his right hand on the head of Ephraim and his left hand on the head of Manasseh.

Then he gave Joseph his blessing and said: My grandfather Abraham and my father Isaac worshiped the Lord God. He has been with me all my life,

and his angel has kept me safe. Now I pray that he will bless these boys and that my name and the names of Abraham and Isaac will live on because of them. I ask God to give them many children and many descendants as well.

Joseph did not like it when he saw his father place his right hand on the head of the younger son. So he tried to move his father's right hand from Ephraim's head and place it on Manasseh.

But his father said, "Son, I know what I am doing. It's true that Manasseh's family will someday become a great nation. But Ephraim will be even greater than Manasseh, because his descendants will become many great nations."

Jacob called his sons together and said: My sons, I am Jacob, your father Israel.

But you stood your ground, swiftly shooting back with the help of Jacob's God, the All-Powerful One— his name is the Shepherd, Israel's mighty rock.

Jacob told his sons: Soon I will die, and I want you to bury me in Machpelah Cave. Abraham bought this cave as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite, and it is near the town of Mamre in Canaan. Abraham and Sarah are buried there, and so are Isaac and Rebekah. I buried Leah there too.

When Jacob had finished giving these instructions to his sons, he lay down on his bed and died.

Joseph started crying, then leaned over to hug and kiss his father.

Just before my father died, he made me promise to bury him in his burial cave in Canaan. If the king will give me permission to go, I will come back here."