4 And the Lord said unto her;
There are two nations in thy womb,
and two people shall come from
thy body; and the one shall have
power over the other, and the
greater shall serve the lesser.
Understand here who was Isaac;
who Rebekah; and of whom it was
foretold, this people shall be
greater than that.
5 And in another prophecy Jacob
speaketh more clearly to his
son Joseph, saying; Behold the
Lord hath not derived me of seeing
thy face, bring me thy sons that
I may bless them. And he brought
unto his father Manasseh and
Ephraim, desiring that he should
bless Manasseh, because he was
the elder.
6 Therefore Joseph brought him
to the right hand of his father
Jacob. But Jacob by the spirit
foresaw the figure of the people
that was to come.
7 And what saith the Scripture?
And Jacob crossed his hands, and
put his right hand upon Ephraim,
his second, and the younger son,
and blessed him. And Joseph said
unto Jacob; Put thy right hand
upon the head of Manasseh, for he
is my first-born son. And Jacob
said unto Joseph; I know it, my
son, I know it; but the greater
shall serve the lesser; though he
also shall be blessed.
8 Ye see of whom he appointed
it, that they should be the first
people, and heirs of the covenant.
9 If therefore God shall have
yet farther taken notice of this,
by Abraham too; our understanding
of it will then be perfectly
established.
10 What then saith the Scripture
of Abraham, when I be believed,
and it was imputed unto him for
righteousness? Behold I have made
thee a father of the nations,
which without circumcision believe
in the Lord.
11 Let us therefore now inquire
whether God has fulfilled the
covenant, which he sware to our
fathers, that he would give this
people? Yes, verily, he gave it;
but they were not worthy to receive
it by reason of their sins.
12 For thus saith the prophet
And Moses continued fasting in
mount Sinai, to receive the covenant
of the Lord with the people, forty
days and forty nights.
13 And he received of the Lord
two tables written with the finger
of the Lord's hand, in the Spirit.
And Moses, when he had received
them, brought them down that he
might deliver them to the people.