Genesis 48:15-20

¹⁵And he blessed Joseph, and said,

“The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,

The God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,

16The angel who has redeemed me from all evil,

Bless the boys;

And may my name live on in them,

And the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac;

And may they grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”

¹⁷When Joseph saw that his father placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, it displeased him; and he grasped his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. ¹⁸And Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn. Place your right hand on his head.” ¹⁹But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know; he also will become a people and he also will be great. However, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.” ²⁰So he blessed them that day, saying,

“By you Israel will pronounce blessing, saying,

‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh!’ ”

And so he put Ephraim before Manasseh.