For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
For the creature ('the creation') was made subject to vanity, not willingly - i:e., through no natural principle of decay. The apostle, personifying creation, represents it as only submitting to the vanity with which it was smitten, on man's account, in obedience to that superior power which had mysteriously linked its destines with man's. And so he adds, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope;