O YOU who have attained to faith! Remain conscious of God, and seek to come closer unto Him, and strive hard in His cause, so that you might attain to a happy state. 35 Had the unbelievers had twice as much as the wealth of the whole earth in order to ransom themselves from the torment in the life hereafter, still their ransom would not have been accepted. For them there will be a painful torment. 36 They will wish to get out of the fire but they will not have such a choice. Their torment will be constant. 37 Cut off the hands of thieves, whether they are male or female, as a [deterrent] punishment from God for what they have done. God is almighty and wise. 38 But as for him who repents after having thus done wrong, and makes amends, behold, God will accept his repentance: verily, God is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace. 39 Do you not know that to Allah belongs the Kingdom of the heavens and the earth? He punishes whom He will and forgives whom He will. Allah has power over all things. 40 ۞ O APOSTLE! Be not grieved by those who vie with one another in denying the truth: such as those who say with their mouths, "We believe," the while their hearts do not believe; and such of the Jewish faith as eagerly listen to any falsehood, eagerly listen to other people without having come to thee [for enlightenment]. They distort the meaning of the [revealed] words, taking them out of their context, saying [to themselves,] "If such-and-such [teaching] is vouchsafed unto you, accept it; but if it is not vouchsafed unto you, be on your guard!" [Be not grieved by them] for if God wills anyone to be tempted to evil, thou canst in no wise prevail with God in his behalf. It is they whose hearts God is not willing to cleanse. Theirs shall be ignominy in this world, and awesome suffering in the life to come 41 Listeners for the sake of falsehood! Greedy for illicit gain! If then they have recourse unto thee (Muhammad) judge between them or disclaim jurisdiction. If thou disclaimest jurisdiction, then they cannot harm thee at all. But if thou judgest, judge between them with equity. Lo! Allah loveth the equitable. 42 How can they come to you for judgment when they already have the Torah which contains the decree of God! It does not take them long to disregard your judgment; they are not true believers. 43