۞ Allah made a covenant with the Children of Israel and raised among them twelve chieftains. He said: 'I shall be with you and if you establish the prayers and pay the obligatory charity; if you believe in My Messengers and assist them and give Allah a generous loan, I shall forgive you your sins and admit you to Gardens underneath which rivers flow. Whosoever amongst you disbelieves after that, he indeed has strayed from the Straight Path' 12 So for their breaking of the covenant We cursed them and made their hearts hard. They distort words from their [proper] usages and have forgotten a portion of that of which they were reminded. And you will still observe deceit among them, except a few of them. But pardon them and overlook [their misdeeds]. Indeed, Allah loves the doers of good. 13 We had taken the pledge of those also who call themselves Christians. But they too forgot to take advantage of the warning they were given. So We have caused enmity and hatred among them to last till the Day of Resurrection, when God will inform them of what they were doing. 14 O ye people of the Book! surely there hath come Our apostle unto you expounding unto you much in the Book that ye were wont to hide, and much he passeth over. Of a surety, there hath come unto you from Allah a light and a Book luminous. 15 whereby God guides to the ways of peace all who seek His good pleasure, bringing them from darkness to the light, by His will, and guiding them to a straight path. 16 Indeed, the truth deny they who say: "Behold, God is the Christ, son of Mary." Say: "And who could have prevailed with God in any way had it been His will to destroy the Christ, son of Mary, and his mother, and everyone who is on earth - all of them? For, God's is the dominion over the heavens and the earth and all that is between them; He creates what He wills: and God has the power to will anything!" 17 And (both) the Jews and the Christians say: "We are the children of Allah and His loved ones." Say: "Why then does He punish you for your sins?" Nay, you are but human beings, of those He has created, He forgives whom He wills and He punishes whom He wills. And to Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them, and to Him is the return (of all). 18 People of the Book! After an interval during which there were no Messengers, Our Messenger (Muhammad) has come to clarify (your religion) to you, lest you should say: 'No bearer of glad tidings or a warner has come to us' Indeed, there has come to you a bearer of glad tidings and a warner. Allah has power over all things. 19