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 People who Believe! Do not befriend disbelievers in place of Muslims; do you wish to give Allah a clear proof against you? 144 Lo! the hypocrites (will be) in the lowest deep of the Fire, and thou wilt find no helper for them; 145 But excepted shall be they who repent, and live righteously, and hold fast unto God, and grow sincere in their faith in God alone: for these shall be one with the believers - and in time God will grant to all believers a mighty reward. 146 Why should God punish you if you acknowledge the truth and believe? God is responsive to gratitude and is cognisant. 147 ۞ Allah does not like speaking evil publicly unless one has been wronged. Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing. 148 whether you do good openly or in secret, or pardon others for evil [done unto you]: for, behold, God is indeed an absolver of sins, infinite in His power. 149 Those who deny Allah and His messengers, and (those who) wish to separate Allah from His messengers, saying: "We believe in some but reject others": And (those who) wish to take a course midway,- 150 Those are the disbelievers, truly. And We have prepared for the disbelievers a humiliating punishment. 151 But as for those who believe in God and His apostles and make no distinction between any of them - unto them, in time, will He grant their rewards [in full]. And God is indeed much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace. 152