مِّنَ ٱلَّذِينَ هَادُوا۟ يُحَرِّفُونَ ٱلْكَلِمَ عَن مَّوَاضِعِهِۦ وَيَقُولُونَ سَمِعْنَا وَعَصَيْنَا وَٱسْمَعْ غَيْرَ مُسْمَعٍ وَرَٰعِنَا لَيًّۢا بِأَلْسِنَتِهِمْ وَطَعْنًا فِى ٱلدِّينِ ۚ وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ قَالُوا۟ سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا وَٱسْمَعْ وَٱنظُرْنَا لَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَّهُمْ وَأَقْوَمَ وَلَـٰكِن لَّعَنَهُمُ ٱللَّهُ بِكُفْرِهِمْ فَلَا يُؤْمِنُونَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا
Minal lazeena haadoo yuharrifoonal Kalima 'am mawaadi'ihee wa yaqooloona sami'naa wa 'asainaa wasma' ghaira musma'inw wa raa'inaa laiyam bi alsinatihim wa ta'nan fiddeen; wa law annahum qaaloo sami'naa wa ata'naa wasma' wanzurnaa lakaana khairal lahum wa aqwama wa laakil la ''anahumul laahu bikufrihim falaa yu'minoona illaa qaleela
Yahudilerden, sözleri yerlerinden değiştirip: "İşittik ve karşı geldik, kulak vermeyerek dinle" ve dillerini eğip bükerek ve dini yererek: "Bizi de dinle" diyenler vardır. Şayet: "İşittik ve itaat ettik, dinle ve bizi gözet" demiş olsalardı, onlar için daha iyi daha doğru olurdu. İşte Allah inkarları yüzünden onlara lanet etmiştir. Onların ancak pek azı inanır.
Among those who are Jews are some who twist words out of their places, saying, "We hear and we disobey," and "Hear — may you hear nothing," and "Ra'ina" — bending their tongues and slandering the way. Had they said, "We hear and we obey," and "Listen," and "Look upon us," it would have been better for them and more upright. But God has cursed them for their denial, so they do not believe, except for a few.
The verse quotes the offence and then supplies the repair, word for word: three phrases bent out of shape, three straight ones that would have served. Rāʿinā means attend to us, and a small twist of the tongue turns it into an insult — the reason the Qur'an elsewhere tells believers to drop it for unẓurnā. Wa-smaʿ ghayra musmaʿ can be heard as a blessing or a curse, and the tradition reads it both ways.