Indeed, those who believed and those who were Jews or Christians or Sabeans [before Prophet Muhammad] - those [among them] who believed in Allah and the Last Day and did righteousness - will have their reward with their Lord, and no fear will there be concerning them, nor will they grieve. 62 Children of Israel, recall when We made a covenant with you, raised Mount Tur (Sinai) above you and told you to receive earnestly what We had given to you and bear it in mind so that you would protect yourselves against evil. 63 Yet after that you turned away, and but for God's grace and mercy, you would have surely been among the losers. 64 And you had already known about those who transgressed among you concerning the sabbath, and We said to them, "Be apes, despised." 65 And We made it a punishment exemplary for all the former times and for the latter, and an admonition to such as are godfearing. 66 When Moses said to his people, "God commands you to sacrifice a heifer," they said, "Are you making a mockery of us?" He answered, "God forbid that I should be so ignorant!" 67 They said: Pray for us unto thy Lord that He make clear to us what (cow) she is. (Moses) answered: Lo! He saith, Verily she is a cow neither with calf nor immature; (she is) between the two conditions; so do that which ye are commanded. 68 They said, "Call upon your Lord for us to make plain to us its colour." He said, "He says, 'It is a yellow cow, bright in its colour, pleasing to the beholders.' " 69 They said, "Call upon your Lord to make clear to us what it is. Indeed, [all] cows look alike to us. And indeed we, if Allah wills, will be guided." 70 [Moses] answered: "Behold, He says it is to be a cow not broken-in to plough the earth or to water the crops, free of fault, without markings of any other colour." Said they: "At last thou hast brought out the truth!" - and thereupon they sacrificed her, although they had almost left it undone. 71