۞ And assuredly Allah took a bond from the Children of Isra'il, and We raised from amongst them twelve wardens. And Allah said: verily I am with you, if ye establish prayer and give the poor-rate and believe in My apostles and support them and lend unto Allah a goodly loan, I shall surely expiate for you your misdeeds and surely shall make you enter the Gardens whereunder rivers flow; then whosoever of you shall disbelieve thereafter, he hath surely strayed from the level way. 12 And because of their breaking their covenant, We have cursed them and made hard their hearts. They change words from their context and forget a part of that whereof they were admonished. Thou wilt not cease to discover treachery from all save a few of them. But bear with them and pardon them. Lo! Allah loveth the kindly. 13 And from those who call themselves Christians, We took their covenant, but they have abandoned a good part of the Message that was sent to them. So We planted amongst them enmity and hatred till the Day of Resurrection (when they discarded Allah's Book, disobeyed Allah's Messengers and His Orders and transgressed beyond bounds in Allah's disobedience), and Allah will inform them of what they used to do. 14 O People given the Book(s)! Indeed this Noble Messenger (Prophet Mohammed – peace and blessings be upon him) of Ours has come to you, revealing to you a lot of the things which you had hidden in the Book, and forgiving a lot of them; indeed towards you has come a light* from Allah, and a clear Book. (* The Holy Prophet is a light from Allah). 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 Certainly they disbelieve who say: Surely, Allah-- He is the Messiah, son of Marium. Say: Who then could control anything as against Allah when He wished to destroy the Messiah son of Marium and his mother and all those on the earth? And Allah's is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and what is between them; He creates what He pleases; and Allah has power over all things, 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, Our Messenger has come to you to guide you at a time when none of Our other Messengers are living among you. (We sent him) so that you will not complain about having no one to tell you of what is good or warn you of what is bad. Now a bearer of good news has come to you. God has power over all things. 19