Genesis 48:16-19

48:16 the Angel who has protected me

from all harm –

bless these boys.

May my name be named in them,

and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac.

May they grow into a multitude on the earth.”

48:17 When Joseph saw that his father placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, it displeased him. So he took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 48:18 Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.”

48:19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a nation and he too will become great. In spite of this, his younger brother will be even greater and his descendants will become a multitude of nations.”

Genesis 49:22

49:22 Joseph is a fruitful bough,

a fruitful bough near a spring

whose branches climb over the wall.

Isaiah 40:1-2

The Lord Returns to Jerusalem

40:1 “Comfort, comfort my people,”

says your God.

40:2 “Speak kindly to Jerusalem, and tell her

that her time of warfare is over,

that her punishment is completed.

For the Lord has made her pay double for all her sins.”