Genesis 48:9
And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them. And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them.
The verse stands within the seven years of famine foretold through Joseph, when dearth was in all lands and reached Canaan where Jacob lived. Ten of Jacob's sons journeyed to Egypt to buy grain and bowed down before Joseph with their faces to the earth, without knowing him though he knew them, which brought his dreams to his mind.
At the moment of the verse Jacob's eyes were dim with age, so he was unaware of the presence of Ephraim and Manasseh until he caught the outline of their forms and asked who they were. Joseph answered that they were the sons God had given him in that place, in Egypt, and Jacob asked for them to be brought to him so that he could bless them. Their bringing for blessing was their formal instatement among the children of Israel. By it Joseph in faith renounced for his sons all honors, wealth, distinction, and connection through their mother to the highest order of the Egyptian priesthood, choosing instead a place among the despised shepherd tribes entrusted with the oracles of God. The blessing itself was given by embracing and kissing them and solemnly laying hands upon their heads.