۞ And Allah had already taken a covenant from the Children of Israel, and We delegated from among them twelve leaders. And Allah said, "I am with you. If you establish prayer and give zakah and believe in My messengers and support them and loan Allah a goodly loan, I will surely remove from you your misdeeds and admit you to gardens beneath which rivers flow. But whoever of you disbelieves after that has certainly strayed from the soundness of the 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 With those who said they were Nazarenes, We made a Covenant, but they have forgotten much of what they were reminded. Therefore, We stirred among them enmity and hatred till the Day of Resurrection when Allah will inform them of all that they have done. 14 People of the Book, Our Messenger has come to you. He tells you about the many things that you had been hiding of the Book and forgives you much. A light and a clarifying Book has come to you from God 15 Whereby Allah guideth him who seeketh His good pleasure unto paths of peace. He bringeth them out of darkness unto light by His decree, and guideth them unto a straight path. 16 Assuredly they have disbelieved who say: verily God! He is the Masih, son of Maryam. Say thou; who can avail in aught against Allah, if He intended to destroy Masih, son of Maryam, and his mother and those on the earth altogether? And Allah's is the dominion of the heavens and the earth and that which is in between the twain. He createth whatsoever He will, and Allah is over everything Potent. 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 O you people of the Book, Our Apostle has come to you when apostles had ceased to come long ago, lest you said: "There did not come to us any messenger of good news or of warnings." So now there has reached you a bearer of good tidings and of warnings; for God has the power over all things. 19