創世紀:Chapter 48

創世紀:Chapter 48

創世紀	Genesis
¹這些事以後，有人告訴若瑟說：「你的父親病了。」若瑟遂帶了他的兩個兒子，默納協和厄弗辣因同去。	¹Some time afterward, Joseph was informed, "Your father is failing." So he took along with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
²人告訴雅各伯說：「你兒子若瑟來看你。」以色列遂勉強由床上坐起。	²When Jacob was told, "Your son Joseph has come to you," he rallied his strength and sat up in bed.
³雅各伯對若瑟說：「全能者天主曾在客納罕地路次顯現給我，祝福了我，	³ Jacob then said to Joseph: "God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessing me,
⁴對我說：看！我要使你繁殖增多，成為一大民族；我要將這地方賜給你未來的後裔，作為永久的產業。	⁴he said, 'I will make you fertile and numerous and raise you into an assembly of tribes, and I will give this land to your descendants after you as a permanent possession.'
⁵我未到埃及見你以前，你在埃及國所生的兩個兒子，由今起應歸於我；厄弗辣因和默納協屬我全如勒烏本和西默盎一樣。	⁵Your two sons, therefore, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I joined you here, shall be mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine as much as Reuben and Simeon are mine.
⁶在他們以後所生的子女，盡歸於你；不過在分產業時，他們應歸他們兄弟的名下。	⁶Progeny born to you after them shall remain yours; but their heritage shall be recorded in the names of their two brothers.
⁷當我由帕丹回來時，在離厄弗辣大還有一段路程時，在路上你母親辣黑耳，就在我的悲痛中死在客納罕地，我就將她葬在去厄弗辣大，即白冷的路旁。」	⁷ I do this because, when I was returning from Paddan, your mother Rachel died, to my sorrow, during the journey in Canaan, while we were still a short distance from Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem)."
⁸以色列看見若瑟的兒子，就問說：「他們是誰？」	⁸When Israel saw Joseph's sons, he asked, "Who are these?"
⁹若瑟回答父親說：「是天主在此地賜給我的兒子。」以色列說：「帶他們到我跟前來，我要祝福他們。」	⁹"They are my sons," Joseph answered his father, "whom God has given me here." "Bring them to me," said his father, "that I may bless them."
¹⁰以色列因年老眼目昏花，看不清楚；若瑟遂領他們到他跟前；他就口親他們，抱住他們。	¹⁰(Now Israel's eyes were dim from age, and he could not see well.) When Joseph brought his sons close to him, he kissed and embraced them.
¹¹以色列對若瑟說：「連見你的面，我都沒有料到；現今，看，天主還使我見到了你的後裔。」	¹¹Then Israel said to Joseph, "I never expected to see your face again, and now God has allowed me to see your descendants as well!"
¹²若瑟遂由他父親膝間將孩子拉出來，俯伏在地下拜。	¹²Joseph removed them from his father's knees and bowed down before him with his face to the ground.
¹³然後若瑟又領他們兩個，右手領厄弗辣因到以色列左邊，左手領默納協到以色列右邊，到父親面前。	¹³Then Joseph took the two, Ephraim with his right hand, to Israel's left, and Manasseh with his left hand, to Israel's right, and led them to him.
¹⁴以色列卻伸出右手，放在次子厄弗辣因的頭上，伸出左手放在長子默納協的頭上，故意交叉着自己的手。	¹⁴But Israel, crossing his hands, put out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, although he was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, although he was the first-born.
¹⁵遂祝福若瑟說：「願我的祖先亞巴郎和依撒格一生與之往來的天主，自我出生直到今日牧育我的天主，	¹⁵Then he blessed them with these words: "May the God in whose ways my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The God who has been my shepherd from my birth to this day,
¹⁶救我脫離一切禍患的使者，祝福這兩個孩童！願我的名及我祖先亞巴郎和依撒格的名，賴他們流傳！願他們在地上生育繁昌！」	¹⁶The Angel who has delivered me from all harm, bless these boys That in them my name be recalled, and the names of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, And they may become teeming multitudes upon the earth!"
¹⁷若瑟見他父親將右手放在厄弗辣因頭上，認為不對，便拿起父親的右手，由厄弗辣因頭上，移到默納協頭上，	¹⁷When Joseph saw that his father had laid his right hand on Ephraim's head, this seemed wrong to him; so he took hold of his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's,
¹⁸對父親說：「阿爸！錯了；這個原是長子，應將你的右手放在他頭上。」	¹⁸saying, "That is not right, father; the other one is the first-born; lay your right hand on his head!"
¹⁹他的父親卻拒絕說：「我知道，我兒！我知道，他也要成為一個民族，他也要昌盛；但他的弟弟卻比他更要昌盛，他的後裔要成為一大民族。」	¹⁹But his father resisted. "I know it, son," he said, "I know. That one too shall become a tribe, and he too shall be great. Nevertheless, his younger brother shall surpass him, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations."
²⁰那一天他又這樣祝福他們說：「以色列將以你們祝福人說：願天主使你如厄弗辣因和默納協！」他又將厄弗辣因放在默納協前面。	²⁰So when he blessed them that day and said, "By you shall the people of Israel pronounce blessings; may they say, 'God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh,'" he placed Ephraim before Manasseh.
²¹然後以色列對若瑟說：「看，我快要死；但天主必與你們同在，必領你們回到你們祖先的地方去。	²¹Then Israel said to Joseph: "I am about to die. But God will be with you and will restore you to the land of your fathers.
²²現在我將由阿摩黎人手中，以我的刀劍弓矢奪得的那塊山地賜給你，使你比眾兄弟多得一分。」	²² As for me, I give to you, as to the one above his brothers, Shechem, which I captured from the Amorites with my sword and bow."