All Israel have a share in the World to Come, as it is stated: And your people are all righteous; they shall inherit the land forever; they are the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, in which to take pride.

1. Moses received the Torah from Sinai and passed it on to Joshua; Joshua to the Elders; the Elders to the Prophets; and the Prophets passed it on to the Men of the Great Assembly. They [the Men of the Great Assembly] said three things: Be deliberate in judgment; raise up many disciples; and make a fence around the Torah.

2. Shimon the Righteous was one of the last of the Men of the Great Assembly. He used to say: The world stands on three things – on [the study of] Torah, the service [of God], and deeds of kindness.

3. Antigonus of Socho received [the oral tradition] from Shimon the Righteous. He used to say: Do not be like servants who serve their master for the sake of receiving a reward, but rather be like servants who serve their master without the intent of receiving a reward; and let the fear of Heaven be upon you.

4. Yosay ben Yoezer of Tzredah and Yosay ben Yochanan of Jerusalem received [the oral tradition] from them. Yosay ben Yoezer of Tzredah said: Let your house be a meeting place for Sages; sit in the dust as their feet; and drink in their words thirstily.

5. Joshua ben Perachyah and Nittai of Arbel received [the oral tradition] from them. Joshua ben Perachayah said: Provide yourself with a teacher; acquire for yourself a friend; and judge every person favorably.

6. Joshua ben Perachyah and Nittai of Arbel received [the oral tradition] from them. Joshua ben Perachayah said: Provide yourself with a teacher; acquire for yourself a friend; and judge every person favorably.

7. Nittai of Arbel said: Keep away from a bad neighbor; do not fraternize with a wicked man; and do not abandon belief in [Divine] retribution.

8. Yehudah ben Tabbai and Shimon ben Shatach received [the oral tradition] from them. Yehudah ben Tabbai said: Do not act as a counselor [when sitting as a judge]; when the litigants stand before you, regard them both as guilty; but when they leave, having accepted the judgment, regard them both as guiltless.

9. Shimon ben Shatach said: Examine the witnesses thoroughly; and be cautious with your words, lest through them they [the witnesses or the litigants] learn to speak falsehood.

10. Shemayah and Avtalyon received [the oral tradition] from them. Shemayah said: Love work; abhor taking high office; and do not seek intimacy with the ruling power.

11. Avtalyon said: Sages, be careful with your words, for you may incur the penalty of exile and be banished to a place of evil waters [heresy], and the disciples who follow you there will drink and die [spiritually], and consequently the Name of Heaven will be desecrated.

12. Hillel and Shammai received [the oral tradition] from them. Hillel said: Be of the disciples of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving your fellow creatures, and bringing them near to the Torah.

13. He used to say: He who seeks renown loses his name; he who does not increase [his knowledge of Torah] decreases it; he who does not study [Torah] deserves death; and he who exploits the crown [of Torah for his own ends] shall perish.

14. He used to say: If I am not for myself, who is for me? And if I am only for myself, what am I? And if now now, when?

15. Shammai said: Set a fixed time for your study of Torah; say little and do much; and receive every person with a cheerful countenance.

16. Rabban Gamliel said: Provide yourself with a teacher and free yourself of double; and do not tithe by guesswork, even giving in excess of the required amount.

17. Shimon his son said: All my days I grew up among the Sages and did not find anything better for one’s person than silence; not study but practice is the essential thing; and whoever engages in excessive talk brings on sin.

18. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: The world endures by virtue of three things – justice, truth, and peace, as it is stated: Administer truth and the judgment of peace I your gates.

Rabbi Chananyah ben Akashya said: The Holy One, blessed be He, wished to make the people of Israel meritorious; therefore He gave them Torah and mitzvot in abundant measure, as it is written. The Lord desired, for the sake of his [Israel’s] righteousness, to make the Torah great and glorious.

CHAPTER II

1. Rabbi [Yehudah HaNassi] said: Which is the right path that a man should choose for himself? That which is honorable to himself and brings him honor with man. Be as careful in [the performance of a seemingly] minor mitzvah as of a major one, for you do not know the reward given or the mitzvot. Consider the loss [incurred in the performance] of a mitzvah against the reward [earned by its observance], and the gain [derived] from a sin against the loss [that will follow]. Reflect upon three things and you will not come to sin: Know what is above you – an Eye that sees, an Ear that hears, and all your deeds are recorded in a Book.

2. Rabban Gamliel, the son of Rabbi Judah Ha Nassi, said: It is good [to combine] the study of Torah with an occupation for the effort required by them both keeps sin out of mind; while all Torah-study not combined with work will in the end cease and leads to sin. All who occupy themselves with the affairs of the community shall be engaged with them for the sake of Heaven, for the merit of their fathers assists them and their righteousness endures forever. And upon you – [says God] – I will bestow great reward as though you had accomplished it [all by yourselves].