Surely those who believe, and those who are Jews, and the Christians, and the Sabians, whoever believes in Allah and the Last day and does good, they shall have their reward from their Lord, and there is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve. 62 Remember the day We made the covenant with you and exalted you on the Mount and said: "Hold fast to what We have given you, and remember what is therein that you may take heed." 63 Then you turned away after that. And if not for the favor of Allah upon you and His mercy, you would have been among the losers. 64 And certainly you have known those among you who exceeded the limits of the Sabbath, so We said to them: Be (as) apes, despised and hated. 65 So We made this punishment an example to their own and to succeeding generations and a lesson to those who are Al-Muttaqun (the pious - see V. 2:2). 66 And (remember) when Moosa said to his people, “Allah commands you to sacrifice a cow”; they said, “Are you making fun of us?” He answered, “Allah forbid that I should be of the ignorant!” 67 They said, "Call upon your Lord for us that He may make plain to us what it is!" He said, "He says, 'Verily, it is a cow neither too old nor too young, but (it is) between the two conditions', so do what you are commanded." 68 "Call on your Lord," they said, "to tell us the colour of the cow." "God says," answered Moses, "a fawn coloured cow, rich yellow, well pleasing to the eye." 69 They said, 'Pray to thy Lord for us, that He make clear to us what she may be; cows are much alike to us; and, if God will, we shall then be guided.' 70 Moses answered, "Your Lord says, she should be a heifer which has not been yoked to plough the land or water the fields, a heifer free from any blemish." "Now you have told us the truth," they answered, and they sacrificed it, though they would rather not have done it. 71