20:16a

The words in 20:16 are not part of Jesus’ parable. In some languages, it may be necessary to make this clear. Some ways to do this are to add some words of introduction. For example:

And Jesus concluded (Good News Translation)
-or-
Jesus then said (Contemporary English Version)

So: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as So indicates that 20:16 is the conclusion that Jesus made from the parable.

Here are some other ways to translate it:

Therefore
-or-
In this way (God’s Word)

the last will be first: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the last is more literally “the last ones.” It refers to people who are last. They are last in the sense of importance now. As the owner paid the last workers first, God will take those in the world who are lowest in status and make them great in his kingdom.

These words are similar to 19:30b. You should translate it in a similar way here. For example:

people who are last will be first
-or-
people who are low/humble now will become high/great
-or-
those who have the last place now will have the first place in the future (New Century Version)

The Greek does not necessarily imply that all who are last will be first. You should avoid words like “all” or “everyone” or even “many” here. In 19:30, the Greek has the word translated “many,” but here it does not. However, if translating without a word like “many” implies “all,” then you may want to use the word “many” from 19:30.

20:16b

and the first will be last:
The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the first is more literally “the first ones.” It refers to people who are first. They are first in the sense of most importance now. But in the future, they will be last in importance.

These words are similar to 19:30a. You should translate it in a similar way here. For example:

and people who are first will be last
-or-
and people who are high/great now will become low/humble

-or-

and those who have the first place now will have the last place in the future (New Century Version)

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