Mark 10:31 (YLT)

Passage

and many first shall be last, and the last first.'

Nearby Context

Mark 10:29 And Jesus answering said, `Verily I say to you, there is no one who left house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or fields, for my sake, and for the good news',

Mark 10:30 who may not receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brothers, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and fields, with persecutions, and in the age that is coming, life age-during;

Mark 10:31 and many first shall be last, and the last first.'

Mark 10:32 And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them, and they were amazed, and following they were afraid. And having again taken the twelve, he began to tell them the things about to happen to him,

Mark 10:33 --`Lo, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be delivered to the chief priests, and to the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the nations,

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "first", "shall", and "last". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "first" and "shall", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 30's "who may not receive an hundredfold now..." into verse 32's "And they were in the way going...", so "first" and "shall" belong inside that flow. In Mark context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "first" and "shall" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.