may the Messenger, who has rescued me from all evil, bless these boys. May they be called by my name and by the names of my grandfather Abraham and my father Isaac. May they have many children on the earth.”
Then Joshua said to the descendants of Joseph, ⌞the tribes of⌟ Ephraim and Manasseh, “You are an important and very powerful people. One region is really not enough for you.
In all their troubles he was troubled, and he was the Messenger who saved them. In his love and compassion he reclaimed them. He always held them and carried them in the past.
He gave himself for us to set us free from every sin and to cleanse us so that we can be his special people who are enthusiastic about doing good things.
However, not only creation groans. We, who have the Spirit as the first of God’s gifts, also groan inwardly. We groan as we eagerly wait for our adoption, the freeing of our bodies ⌞from sin⌟.
“I’m going to send my messenger, and he will clear the way ahead of me. Then the Lord you are looking for will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the promise will come. He is the one you want,” says the Lord of Armies.
Why should you be like someone taken by surprise, like a strong man who cannot help? You, O Lord, are among us. We are called by your name. Don’t leave us!
However, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves, pray, search for me, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear ⌞their prayer⌟ from heaven, forgive their sins, and heal their country.
They will be as majestic as a firstborn bull. Their horns will be like the horns of a wild ox. They will use them to push away nations including those at the ends of the earth. The tens of thousands from the tribe of Ephraim and the thousands from the tribe of Manasseh will be like this.”
The man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob but Israel [He Struggles With God], because you have struggled with God and with men—and you have won.”