^20-21 For on that day thorns and thistles, sin, death, and decay^[a]—the things that overcame the world against its will at God’s command—will all disappear, and the world around us will share in the glorious freedom from sin which God’s children enjoy.

²² For we know that even the things of nature, like animals and plants, suffer in sickness and death as they await this great event.^{[b] 23} And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as his children, including the new bodies he has promised us—bodies that will never be sick again and will never die.