۞ O Messenger, deliver what is sent down to you from your Lord; if you do not, you will not have conveyed His Message. Allah protects you from the people. Allah does not guide the nation, the unbelievers. 67 Say: "O followers of the Bible! You have no valid ground for your beliefs - unless you [truly] observe the Torah and the Gospel, and all that has been bestowed from on high upon you by your Sustainer!" Yet all that has been bestowed from on high upon thee [O Prophet] by thy Sustainer is bound to make many of them yet more stubborn in their overweening arrogance and in their denial of the truth. But sorrow not over people who deny the truth: 68 Those who believe (in the Qur'an), those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), and the Sabians and the Christians,- any who believe in Allah and the Last Day, and work righteousness,- on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve. 69 We had taken a solemn pledge from the children of Israel, and sent messengers to them; but whenever an apostle came to them bringing what did not suit their mood, they called one imposter, another they slew, 70 and they imagined that no harm would come to them; and so they became blind and deaf [of heart]. God turned to them in mercy; yet again many of them became blind and deaf. God is fully aware of their actions. 71 They surely disbelieve who say: Lo! Allah is the Messiah, son of Mary. The Messiah (himself) said: O Children of Israel, worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord. Lo! whoso ascribeth partners unto Allah, for him Allah hath forbidden paradise. His abode is the Fire. For evil-doers there will be no helpers. 72 Assuredly they disbelieve who say: God is the third of the three; whereas there is no god except the One God. And if they desist not from that which they say, there shall surely befall those of them who have disbelieved a torment afflictive. 73 Will they not then turn to Allah and ask His forgiveness? And Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. 74 The Messiah ['Iesa (Jesus)], son of Maryam (Mary), was no more than a Messenger; many were the Messengers that passed away before him. His mother [Maryam (Mary)] was a Siddiqah [i.e. she believed in the words of Allah and His Books (see Verse 66:12)]. They both used to eat food (as any other human being, while Allah does not eat). Look how We make the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) clear to them, yet look how they are deluded away (from the truth). 75 Say thou: worship ye, beside Allah, that which availeth you not for hurt nor for profit? whereas Allah; He is the Hearer, the Knower. 76 Say, "People of the Book! Do not go to extremes in your religion and do not follow the whims of those who went astray before you -- they caused many to go astray and themselves strayed away from the right path." 77