The Quran

Preface

وَجاهِدوا فِي اللَّهِ حَقَّ جِهادِهِ ۚ هُوَ اجتَباكُم وَما جَعَلَ عَلَيكُم فِي الدّينِ مِن حَرَجٍ ۚ مِلَّةَ أَبيكُم إِبراهيمَ ۚ هُوَ سَمّاكُمُ المُسلِمينَ مِن قَبلُ وَفي هٰذا لِيَكونَ الرَّسولُ شَهيدًا عَلَيكُم وَتَكونوا شُهَداءَ عَلَى النّاسِ ۚ فَأَقيمُوا الصَّلاةَ وَآتُوا الزَّكاةَ وَاعتَصِموا بِاللَّهِ هُوَ مَولاكُم ۖ فَنِعمَ المَولىٰ وَنِعمَ النَّصيرُ

Yusuf Ali

And strive in His cause as ye ought to strive, (with sincerity and under discipline).¹ He has chosen you, and has imposed no difficulties on you² in religion; it is the cult of your father Abraham. It is He Who has named you Muslims, both before³ and in this (Revelation); that the Messenger may be a witness for you, and ye be witnesses for mankind!⁴ So establish regular Prayer, give regular Charity, and hold fast to God. He is your Protector - the Best to protect and the Best to help!

As far as the striving is concerned with Jihad in the narrow sense, see the limitations in n. 204 to 2:190 and n. 205 to 2:191. But the words are perfectly general and apply to all true and unselfish striving for spiritual good.
The Jews were hampered by many restrictions, and their religion was racial. Christianity, as originally preached, was a hermit religion: “sell whatsoever thou hast” (Mark 10:21): “take no thought for the morrow” (Matt. 6:34). Islam, as originally preached, gives freedom and full play to man’s faculties of every kind. It is universal, and claims to date from Adam: father Abraham is mentioned as the great Ancestor of those among whom Islam was first preached (Jews, Christians, and Arab Quraish).
Before: see Abraham’s prayer in 2:128. In this revelation: in this very verse, as well as in other places.
See 2:143, and notes 143 and 144. As the Prophet is a guide and witnesses among us, so Muslims ought to be witneses amongst mankind. The best witness to God’s Truth are those who show its light in their lives.