وَقَالَتِ ٱلْيَهُودُ وَٱلنَّصَـٰرَىٰ نَحْنُ أَبْنَـٰٓؤُا۟ ٱللَّهِ وَأَحِبَّـٰٓؤُهُۥ ۚ قُلْ فَلِمَ يُعَذِّبُكُم بِذُنُوبِكُم ۖ بَلْ أَنتُم بَشَرٌ مِّمَّنْ خَلَقَ ۚ يَغْفِرُ لِمَن يَشَآءُ وَيُعَذِّبُ مَن يَشَآءُ ۚ وَلِلَّهِ مُلْكُ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا ۖ وَإِلَيْهِ ٱلْمَصِيرُ
Wa qaalatil Yahoodu wan Nasaaraa nahnu abnaaa'ul laahi wa ahibbaaa'uh; qul falima yu'azzibukum bizunoobikum bal antum basharum mimmman khalaq; yaghfiru limai yashaaa'u wa yu'azzibu mai yashaaa'; wa lillaahi mulkus samaawaati wal ardi wa maa bainahumaa wa ilaihil maseer
The Jews and the Christians say, "We are the children of God and his beloved ones." Say, "Then why does he punish you for your sins? No — you are human beings, part of what he has created; he forgives whom he wills and punishes whom he wills." To God belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them, and to him is the final return.
The reply argues from a premise the hearers already hold: punishment for sin stands in their own scriptures, so the question turns on their own account of God rather than on an outside claim. Bashar is the levelling word, and it is the same one the Prophet is told to use of himself at 18:110. The address around this verse is an invitation, since verses 15 and 19 both open by calling the People of the Book toward what has come to them.