"Every man for himself, (and the devil take the hindmost)!" "The devil take", not "the devil takes". As already said, you would normally hear only the first part of the phrase. There are a few other popular sayings where the second part is either implied or even forgotten: "When in Rome (do as the Romans do)." "Better to have loved and lost (than never loved at all)." "When the cat's away (the mice will play)." "Great minds think alike (and fools seldom differ)."

It means that every man is responsible for himself and should take care of himself and his own interests. Anyone who cannot, won't be helped by the others. Think of a group of men trying to escape the Devil. Every man focuses only on saving himself, and the last one (the hindmost) gets caught by the Devil.

Oh I see

oh and also, it can mean the laziest will be caught, but it doesn't have to. it could also be the most incompetent, least skilled, slowest etc.