1. Some time later Joseph was told that his father was ill. So he took his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, and went to see Jacob.
2. When Jacob was told that his son Joseph had come to see him, he gathered his strength and sat up in bed.
3. Jacob said to Joseph, “Almighty God appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me.
4. He said to me, ‘I will give you many children, so that your descendants will become many nations; I will give this land to your descendants as their possession for ever.’ ”
5. Jacob continued, “Joseph, your two sons, who were born to you in Egypt before I came here, belong to me; Ephraim and Manasseh are just as much my sons as Reuben and Simeon.
6. If you have any more sons, they will not be considered mine; the inheritance they get will come through Ephraim and Manasseh.