‘Thus you shall say to Joseph, “Please forgive, I beg you, the transgression of your brothers and their sin, for they dealt evil against you.”’ So now, please forgive the transgression of the slaves of the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.
Genesis 50:15 Then Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, and they said, “What if Joseph bears a grudge against us and returns back to us all the evil which we dealt against him!”
Genesis 50:16 So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father commanded before he died, saying,
Genesis 50:17 ‘Thus you shall say to Joseph, “Please forgive, I beg you, the transgression of your brothers and their sin, for they dealt evil against you.”’ So now, please forgive the transgression of the slaves of the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.
Genesis 50:18 Then his brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your slaves.”
Genesis 50:19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place?
The verse centers on "thus", "shall", "joseph", "please", "forgive", "transgression", "brothers", and "dealt". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "thus" and "shall", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 16's "So they sent a message to Joseph..." into verse 18's "Then his brothers also came and fell...", so "thus" and "shall" belong inside that flow. In Genesis context, the local focus is creation, human rebellion, covenant promise, and God's providence.
A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "thus" and "shall" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.