Translation:

31. Kill not your children for fear of want: We shall provide sustenance for them as well as for you: verily the killing of them is a great sin.

Notes (Tafseer)

2214. The Arabs were addicted to female infanticide. In a society perpetually at war a son was a source of strength whereas a daughter was a source of weakness. Even now infanticide is not unknown in other countries for economic reasons. This crime against children's lives is here characterised as one of the greatest of sins.