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 believers, do not hold unbelievers as friends in preference to the faithful. Do you want to proffer a clear proof of your own guilt before God? 144 The hypocrites will be placed in the lowest bottom of the fire and none of you will ever find a helper for them, except 145 Except those who repented and reformed themselves and held fast to Allah’s rope and made their religion sincerely only for Allah – so they are with the Muslims; and Allah will soon bestow upon the believers a great reward. 146 Why should Allah punish you if you have thanked (Him) and have believed in Him. And Allah is Ever All-Appreciative (of good), All-Knowing. 147 ۞ Allah does not love the shouting of evil words, except by he who has been wronged. He is the Hearer, the Knower. 148 Whether you reveal any good or hide it, or pardon any evil, God is forgiving and all powerful. 149 Those who believe not in God and His apostles, and desire to differentiate between God and His messengers, and say: "We believe in some and not in the others," and wish to find a way (between affirmation and denial), 150 Those indeed are they who are denying the truth beyond doubt, and We have prepared a humiliating punishment for the deniers. 151 And those who believe in Allah, and His Messengers and do not divide between any of them; to those, We shall surely give them their wages. Allah is the Forgiver, the Most Merciful. 152