Bible Strands
Matthew 20:16
So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus speaks to the twelve disciples, closing the parable of the vineyard workers (20:1–16), in response to their grumbling that the latecomers received the same wage as those who labored all day.
The words — ἔσονται (esontai), future of εἰμί, is a plain declarative "will be," not a promise or exhortation; ἔσχατοι (eschatoi) carries the sense of "at the end," marking a temporal reversal rather than a mere ordinal swap.
The thread — The identical formula appears in Matthew 19:30 and Mark 10:31; Matthew 22:14 ("many are called, but few are chosen") tightens the same logic around the parable of the wedding feast.
Why it lands — It removes any claim that early entry or seniority secures a superior standing; the reader is left with no hierarchy to cling to.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.
Cross-references
- Matthew 19:30 But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.
- Mark 10:31 But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”
- Matthew 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”
- Luke 13:28 There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves are thrown out.
- Luke 15:7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous ones who do not need to repent.
- Matthew 7:13 Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.
- Romans 8:30 And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.
- Romans 9:30 What then will we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;
- James 1:23 For anyone who hears the word but does not carry it out is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror,
- Luke 14:24 For I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will taste my banquet.’”