Jakob ta yambeke Efraim naManasse
1 Konima yaambika Josef okwa lombwelwa kutya he ota alukwa. Josef okwa kutha oyana yaali, Manasse naEfraim, e ta yi a ka talele po he. 2 Jakob sho a lombwelwa kutya omwana Josef okwe ya oku mu talela po, okwi ikankameke e ta kuutumba kombete ye. 3 Jakob okwa ti kuJosef: “Kalunga Omunankondoawike okwi ihololele ndje puLus mevi lyaKaanan e ta yambeke ndje. 4 Okwa lombwele ndje a ti: ‘Otandi ku pe aanona oyendji, opo oluvalo lwoye lu ka ninge oshigwana oshinene. Otandi gandja evi ndika koluvalo lwoye, li ninge eliko lyalwo sigo aluhe.’ ”
5 Jakob okwa tsikile a ti: “Josef, aamwoye yaali ye ku valelwa muEgipiti, manga inaandi ya huka, oyandje. Efraim naManasse oye thike paamwandje mboka Reuben naSimeon. 6 Aamwoye yalwe ye ku valelwa konima yawo, naa kale yoye; mokugandja iitopolwa yevi eliko lyawo nali pitile muEfraim naManasse. 7 Sho nda li mokugaluka kuMesopotamia, onda silwa Rakel mondjila muKaanan, popepi naEfrata. Onde mu fumvike mooha dhondjila yokuEfrata.” (Efrata nena ohaku tiwa Betlehem.)
8 Jakob sho a mono aana yaJosef, okwa pula a ti: “Aanona mbano oolye?” 9 Josef okwa yamukula a ti: “Mbaka aamwandje, Kalunga e ya pele ndje muka muEgipiti.”
Jakob okwa ti: “Ya eta kungame, opo ndi ya yambeke.”
10 Omeho gaJakob oga li ga tsiyala kuukulupe, ka li ta mono ko nawa. Josef okwe eta aamati kuye, oye nokwe ya idhingile e te ya thipi komilungu. 11 Jakob okwa lombwele Josef a ti: “Kanda li nda tegelela tandi ku mono we, ihe Kalunga okwa monitha ndje aana yoye nokuli.” 12 Nena Josef okwe ya kutha po pekolo lye e te mu inyongamene a tsa oshipala mevi.
13 Josef okwa tula Efraim kolumoho lwaJakob naManasse kolulyo lwe. 14 Ihe Jakob okwa shigakaneke iikaha ye e ta tenteke olulyo lwe komutse gwaEfraim, nando oye ondenge, nolumoho lwe okomutse gwaManasse, ngoka a li omukuluntu.
15 Okwa yambeke Josef a ti:
“Kalunga ngoka a longelwa kootate Abraham naIsak,
na yambeke aamati mbaka!
Kalunga ngoka e enditha ndje sigo onena,
ne ya yambeke!
16 Omuyengeli ngoka a hupitha ndje miiponga ayihe,
ne ya yambeke!
Edhina lyandje nedhina lyootate Abraham naIsak
nali kale maamati mbaka!
Yo naa kale ye na okakwiyu, oluvalo olwindji.”
17 Josef okwa li e shi tala epuko, sho a mono he a tenteke olulyo lwe komutse gwaEfraim. Okwa kutha ko oshikaha shahe komutse gwaEfraim e te shi tula komutse gwaManasse. 18 Okwa ti kuhe: “Hangaaka, tate. Omukuluntu oye nguka; tenteka oshikaha shoye shokolulyo komutse gwe.”
19 He okwa tindi e ta ti: “Ondi shi shi, mentu gwandje, ondi shi shi. Oluvalo lwaManasse otalu ka ninga oshigwana oshinene. Ihe ondenge ota ka ninga omunene e mu vule, noluvalo lwe otalu ka ninga iigwana iinene.”
20 Osho ngaaka e ya yambeke esiku ndyoka ta ti: “Aaisraeli otaa ka tumbula omadhina geni, uuna taa tomona omayambeko. Otaa ka tya: ‘Kalunga ne ku faathanithe naEfraim naManasse.’ ” Osho Jakob a tula Efraim komeho gaManasse.
21 Jakob okwa lombwele Josef a ti: “Ngaashi u shi wete, ondi li pokusa, ihe Kalunga ota kala nane note ke mu tembudhila kevi lyoohokulu. 22 Eyana lyokuShekem ongoyelela tandi li pe, haamwanyoko, etathapya ndyoka nda yugu Aayamori negongamwele lyandje nuutati wandje.”
Jacob Blesses Joseph's Two Sons
1 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. 2 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.
3 Jacob told Joseph:
God All-Powerful appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, where he gave me his blessing 4 and promised, “I will give you a large family with many descendants that will grow into a nation. And I am giving you this land that will belong to you and your family forever.”
5 Then Jacob went on to say:
Joseph, your two sons Ephraim and Manasseh were born in Egypt, but I accept them as my own, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine. 6 Any children you have later will be considered yours, but their inheritance will come from Ephraim and Manasseh. 7 Unfortunately, your mother Rachel died in Canaan after we had left northern Syria and before we reached Bethlehem. And I had to bury her along the way.
8-10 Jacob was very old and almost blind. He did not recognize the two boys, and so he asked Joseph, “Who are these boys?”
Joseph answered, “They are my sons. God has given them to me here in Egypt.”
“Bring them to me,” Jacob said. “I want to give them my blessing.” Joseph brought the boys to him, and he hugged and kissed them.
11 Jacob turned to Joseph and told him, “For many years I thought you were dead and that I would never see you again. But now God has even let me live to see your children.” 12 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.
13 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. 14 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. 15 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, 16 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.
17 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. 18 Joseph said, “Father, you have made a mistake. This is the older boy. Put your right hand on him.”
19 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.”
20 Jacob told him that in the future the people of Israel would ask God's blessings on one another by saying, “I pray for God to bless you as much as he blessed Ephraim and Manasseh.” Jacob put Ephraim's name first to show that he would be greater than Manasseh. 21 After that, Jacob said, “Joseph, you can see that I won't live much longer. But God will be with you and will lead you back to the land he promised our family long ago. 22 Meanwhile, I'm giving you the hillside I captured from the Amorites.”
