The hypocrites seek to outwit God -- but it is He who outwits them. And when they stand up for prayer, they do so reluctantly and to be seen by others, and they hardly remember God at all. 142 They are hesitant people belonging to neither side. You can find no other way for one whom God has caused to go astray. 143 O you who believe! Take not for Auliya' (protectors or helpers or friends) disbelievers instead of believers. Do you wish to offer Allah a manifest proof against yourselves? 144 The hypocrites will be in the lowest place of the Fire, you will not find a helper for them. 145 Except those who repent and amend and hold fast to Allah and are sincere in their religion to Allah, these are with the believers, and Allah will grant the believers a mighty reward. 146 What can Allah gain by your punishment, if ye are grateful and ye believe? Nay, it is Allah that recogniseth (all good), and knoweth all things. 147 ۞ God does not love the utterance of evil words except in the case of someone who has been wronged. God hears all and knows all. 148 If you do good openly or in secret or pardon an evil, surely God is All-pardoning, All-powerful. 149 Verily, those who disbelieve in Allah and His Messengers and wish to make distinction between Allah and His Messengers (by believing in Allah and disbelieving in His Messengers) saying, "We believe in some but reject others," and wish to adopt a way in between. 150 it is they, they who are truly denying the truth: and for those who deny the truth We have readied shameful suffering. 151 And those who believe in Allah and His Messengers and make no distinction between any of them (Messengers), We shall give them their rewards, and Allah is Ever Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. 152