﴿ فَبَدَّلَ ٱلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا۟ قَوْلًا غَيْرَ ٱلَّذِى قِيلَ لَهُمْ فَأَنزَلْنَا عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا۟ رِجْزًۭا مِّنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ بِمَا كَانُوا۟ يَفْسُقُونَ ﴾

“But those who were bent on evildoing substituted another saying for that which had been given them: and so We sent down upon those evildoers a plague from heaven in requital for all their iniquity.”

�So we sent upon the transgressors a plague�He said:the plague being punishment.