Quote:
{5:12} And God had already taken a covenant from the Children of Israel, and We delegated from among them twelve leaders. And God said, "I am with you. If you establish prayer and give zakah and believe in My messengers and support them and loan God 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."
We've translated "zakah" as "alms" before, so let's always do that.
"Has certainly strayed from the soundness of the way" is a good translation of
ضل سواء السبيل but I like to match the Arabic words which mean "has surely missed how plain the road is!"
I suggest,
{5:12} And God had already taken a covenant from the Children of Israel, and We sent off from among them twelve scouts. And God said, "I am with you. Surely if you have established prayer, given alms, believed in My messengers and supported them and loaned God a goodly loan, I will surely expiate away from you your misdeeds and admit you to gardens flowing beneath which are rivers. But whoever has disbelieved from among you after that, then he has certainly strayed from the level road."Quote:
{5:13} So for their breaking of the covenant We cursed them and made their hearts hard. They distort words from their [proper] usages and have forgotten a portion of that of which they were reminded. And you will still observe deceit among them, except a few of them. But pardon them and overlook [their misdeeds]. Indeed, God loves the doers of good.
The italicized clause is a great translation, but to more faithful to the Arabic words. Something like, "They distort words away from their settings."
I suggest,
{5:13} Therefore, because of their dismantling of their covenant, We cursed them and made their hearts cruel. They distort wording from its settings and they have forgotten a portion of what they were reminded of. And you may still observe a treacherous [group] among them, except a few of them. But pardon them and overlook. Verily, God loves the benevolent.
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