Jacob Blesses Ephraim and Manasseh

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, ^z“God Almighty¹ appeared to me at ^aLuz 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 ^bfor an everlasting possession.’ 5 And now your ^ctwo sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, ^dare 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 ^eRachel died in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance² 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, ^f“They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” And he said, “Bring them to me, please, that ^gI may bless them.” 10 Now ^hthe eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. So Joseph brought them near him, ⁱand he kissed them and embraced them. 11 And Israel said to Joseph, ^j“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 ^kAnd 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, ^lcrossing his hands (for Manasseh was the firstborn). 15 And he blessed Joseph and said,

17 When Joseph saw that his father ^rlaid 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, ^r“I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless, ^shis younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude⁴ of nations.” 20 So he blessed them that day, saying,

Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh. 21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but ^uGod will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers. 22 Moreover, I have given to ^vyou rather than to your brothers one mountain slope⁵ that I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.”

Jacob Blesses His Sons

1 ^wThen Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you ^xin days to come.

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 ^ogathered to my people; ^pbury me with my fathers ^qin 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, ^rwhich Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. 31 ^sThere they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There ^tthey 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 ^uwas gathered to his people.

The Death of John the Baptist

1 ^vAt that time ^wHerod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus, 2 and he said to his servants, ^x“This is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead; that is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” 3 For ^yHerod had seized John and bound him and ^zput him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife,¹ 4 because John had been saying to him, ^a“It is not lawful for you to have her.” 5 And though he wanted to put him to death, ^bhe feared the people, because they held him to be ^ca prophet. 6 But when Herod’s ^dbirthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company and pleased Herod, 7 so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. 8 Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” 9 And the king was sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given. 10 He sent and had John beheaded in the prison, 11 and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. 12 And ^ehis disciples came and took the body and buried it, and they went and told Jesus.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

13 Now when Jesus heard this, ^fhe withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When he went ashore he ^gsaw a great crowd, and ^ghe had compassion on them and healed their sick. 15 Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; ^hsend the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16 But Jesus said, “They need not go away; ⁱyou give them something to eat.” 17 They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” 18 And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, ^jhe looked up to heaven and ^ksaid a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. 21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Jesus Walks on the Water

22 ^lImmediately he ^mmade the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, ⁿhe went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When ^oevening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat by this time was a long way² from the land,³ beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. 25 And ^lin the fourth watch of the night⁴ he came to them, walking on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, ^pthey were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, ^q“Take heart; it is I. ^qDo not be afraid.”

28 And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and ^rwalked on the water and came to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind,⁵ he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, ^s“Lord, save me.” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, ^t“O you of little faith, why did you ^udoubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, ^sthe wind ceased. 33 And ^vthose in the boat ^wworshiped him, saying, ^x“Truly you are ^ythe Son of God.”

Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret

34 ^zAnd when they had crossed over, they came to land at ^aGennesaret. 35 And when the men of that place recognized him, they sent around to all that region and ^bbrought to him all who were sick 36 and implored him that they might only touch ^cthe fringe of his garment. And ^das many as touched it were made well.