(9) He [Rabban Yohanan] said unto them: go forth and observe which is the right way to which a man should cleave? Rabbi Eliezer said, a good eye; Rabbi Joshua said, a good companion; Rabbi Yose said, a good neighbor; Rabbi Shimon said, foresight. Rabbi Elazar said, a good heart. He [Rabban Yohanan] said to them: I prefer the words of Elazar ben Arach, for in his words your words are included. He [Rabban Yohanan] said unto them: go forth and observe which is the evil way which a man should shun? Rabbi Eliezer said, an evil eye; Rabbi Joshua said, an evil companion; Rabbi Yose said, an evil neighbor; Rabbi Shimon said, one who borrows and does not repay for he that borrows from man is as one who borrows from God, blessed be He, as it is said, “the wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous deal graciously and give” (Psalms 37:21). Rabbi Elazar said, an evil heart. He [Rabban Yohanan] said to them: I prefer the words of Elazar ben Arach, for in his words your words are included.

(2) Go out and see what is a straight path that a person should cling to. Rabbi Eliezer says: A good eye: One who is 'glad about his portion.'

(4) Rabbi Yosi says: A good neighbor: To seek good neighbors, since their friendship is constant; and when they are good, their benefit is great. So did the early scholars (rishonim), may their memory be blessed, explain. But it is not the straight path - as according to their words, a good eye and a good heart are things [about] himself and a good friend and a good neighbor are [about] others. Hence we need to explain this mishnah, each word as is fit:

(5) what is a straight path that a person should cling to: From all of the good and straight paths that a person should cling to. He means to say to cling to one trait, to be complete with it. As it is better for a person to grab one trait in full - that it become easy for him to reach all of the important traits via it - than his being someone with [attempted mastery of] many traits and he is not complete in any one of them. And this is that which Rabbi Eliezer said, A good eye: He means to say the trait of generosity, which is a fine and praiseworthy trait. And once he is at the peak of generosity, he will certainly reach the other virtues - as this trait [comes] to him because of a broad heart and a good eye. And a person like this is fit for every good trait, and this is what is written (Proverbs 14:21)," he who shows pity (mechonen) for the lowly is happy." This means to say that the humble are the ones that find favor in his eyes and [so] he gives to them with a good eye. [This is like] the usage (Psalms 102:15), "and they will cherish (mechonen) its dust" - that the dust of the Land of Israel will find favor in their eyes.

(11) He said to them: Go out and see what is an evil path that a person should distance himself from. Rabbi Eliezer says: A bad eye: We need to explain his question and their answer, as it is a known thing that the opposite of the straight way is the way that a person should distance from himself. And the correct [reason that the question was asked] is because there are several good traits the opposite of which are not bad; like the trait of piety which is a very great virtue - but if one is not pious, no bad will happen. About this, he said "a bad eye" - meaning to say, that a person not say stinginess is not bad since he doesn't extort or rob from his fellow. But [actually] its evil is great, as it is the basis for every bad trait. And from it, he will do every evil thing. As he should not say [about this], "If I do not reach the final culmination of the virtues, I [will] not be a pious man, but I will [still] be righteous in doing that which I was commanded about." And he does not know that it is 'a lack that cannot be counted.' Yet it will be lacking in his heart at the end of days - as the little that is lacking will be a big lack, as Shlomo, peace be upon him, stated in his wisdom (Ecclesiastes 10:1), "Dead flies turn the perfumer’s ointment fetid and putrid; so a little folly outweighs massive wisdom." He meant to say [that] just like a fly - which is a small thing - completely destroys a very important thing, the perfumer's ointment; so too is a little foolishness to the glory of a sage and an honored man. As the trait of miserliness causes a man to be empty (beliaal) of the good traits. [It is] like we find with Naval the Carmelite: Because he said (I Samuel 25:11), "Should I take my bread and my water, etc.," it stated about him (Samuel I 25:25), "Please, my lord, pay no attention to that empty man, Naval."

(1) Rabbi Said: which is the straight path that a man should choose for himself? One which is an honor to the person adopting it, and [on account of which] honor [accrues] to him from others. And be careful with a light commandment as with a grave one, for you did know not the reward for the fulfillment of the commandments. Also, reckon the loss [that may be sustained through the fulfillment] of a commandment against the reward [accruing] thereby, and the gain [that may be obtained through the committing] of a transgression against the loss [entailed] thereby. Apply your mind to three things and you will not come into the clutches of sin: Know what there is above you: an eye that sees, an ear that hears, and all your deeds are written in a book.

(1) Rabbi [Yehuda haNasi] said: Which is the straight path that a person should choose for himself? Whichever [path] that is [itself] praiseworthy for the person adopting [it], And praiseworthy to him from [other] people: When the commandments are done, the Holy One, blessed be He, is made praiseworthy through them and that is true praiseworthiness for people. And therefore, one should choose this path for himself.

(2) And praiseworthy to him from [other] people: That he do the commandments in their [appropriate] time, as it is stated (Proverbs 15:23), "and how good is a thing in its time." As he can do [them] in a time that is not right in the eyes of the creatures and it will not attain praiseworthiness from them. And that is not doing the complete commandment; as the matter that the sages, may their memory be blessed, said (Shabbat 63a), "Anyone who does a commandment according to its statement nullifies even a decreed judgment of seventy years, as it is stated (Ecclesiastes 8:4), 'Inasmuch as a king’s command is authoritative, and none can say to him, “What are you doing?,” and it is written after it, 'One who obeys the commandment will not know evil.'" He should also beautify the commandments - a beautiful lulav (palm frond), a beautiful talit (prayer shawl), a beautiful scroll of the Torah, tefillin and the like, in a manner that people will praise it and complement him about them. And Rambam, may his memory be blessed, explained this mishnah [to be] about character traits, to [follow] the middle path which is the choice path and is praiseworthy for the one that adopts it. As it establishes 'a pure heart' in a person and 'renews a proper spirit in his soul.' And "it is praiseworthy to him from [other] people," in that the creations learn to act well and properly from him. [For example] with the trait of generosity, 'A miser will not be called noble,' and also a spendthrift will see evil. And [so] who is the generous one? One who - even though he loves money and saves it very well - consults generously and orders his spending so that he will have enough 'to do the good and the straight' in the place that is fitting to give to. So [too] there is no trait under the [sun] that [is proper] except besides the middle path. And [these traits] are praiseworthy for the person adopting it, and praiseworthy to him from [other] people (but [not] if he does [too] little or [too] much).

(3) And be as careful with a light commandment as with a weighty one, for you do not know the reward given [for the fulfillment] of [the respective] commandments: Even though the punishments for sins are explained to us - as some of them are with excision ( karet) and some with death at the hands of Heaven, excision being that he and his seed are cut off whereas death at the hands of Heaven is only that he is cut off, and there are some sins that get the four death penalties meted out by the court, and there are negative commandments that bring forty lashes, and the one who transgresses the rabbinic laws gets rabbinic lashes for rebellion - but the reward of the [positive] commandments is not explained to us, not for the light ones and not for the weighty ones. And the sages, may their memory be blessed, demonstrated [this with] a parable (Pesikta Rabbati 23), "To what is this similar? To a king who gave an orchard for his servants in which to plant trees. And if he made known to them the giving of reward [of the different trees], they would have all toiled on those trees that have a large reward, and it would come out that the orchard would be missing the other [trees]. So [too], were the Holy One, blessed be He, to make known the giving of reward for the [different] commandments, [people] would do the weighty ones that have a large reward and leave over the light ones that have a smaller reward, and a person would be incomplete in the commandments." And for this reason, one should not be lenient about the commandments, and his soul should hold them [all] dear to do, since he does not know which are the light ones and which are the weighty ones. But our rabbi (R. Yehuda HaNassi, the author of this mishnah) excelled in his words and gave a stronger reason than this and said that "you do not know the reward given [for the fulfillment] of [the respective] commandments" [as to] how much it is - as even the reward of a light commandment is highly elevated. And you should be careful not to lose such a great gain, like the matter that they said (Chullin 142a), "'If you chance upon the nest of a bird in front of you, etc.' (Deuteronomy 22:6) - and if for a commandment as light as a small coin the Torah says, 'in order that it will be good for you' in the world that is completely good 'and that you will have length of days' in the world that is completely long, all the more is it so for the weighty commandments of the Torah."

(4) Also, weigh the loss [that may be sustained through the fulfillment] of a commandment against the reward [that may be obtained] for [fulfilling] it: As if your heart will whisper something to say, "How will I do this and lose my money with this and that"; you can also say to it, "Because there will be a great reward for it, two thousand times the loss." And with this, it will not prevent you from glory.

(5) And [weigh] the gain [that may be obtained through the committing] of a transgression against the loss [that may be sustained] by [committing] it: 'Lest there be in your heart the base thought to say,' "There is great reward in doing this sin and I will gain very much with it and I will have great pleasure; and how can I not do it?" - guard yourself and consider that which you will lose from it in the end of days, as it is many times over that which you will gain now. And the future pain is much longer and bigger than the temporary pleasure. And when you put this into your heart, your hand will cease from doing [it]; as a person does not want a gain that has a greater loss [attached to] it.

(6) Keep your eye on three things, and you will not come to sin: Know what is above you: An Eye that sees, and an Ear that hears, and all your deeds are written in a book: He means to say that the Holy One, blessed be He, sees and knows all the actions of people and remembers everything as if it is written in front of Him, and He will repay evil for [ a person's] evil deeds. And it is a wonder why he counted them as three things, as the three of them are [really] one thing. As this is [all] just saying that God knows everything and will pay back in the future according to the deed. And [so] what is this calculation, as they are all one matter? Hence, it appears that the explanation is that this matter is a metaphor: that in the same way that when he is standing in front of kings and in front of ministers and sages and men of repute, he would be embarrassed to do things that are not done and from saying things that are not good; so [too] should he think at all times as if he is in front of the Holy One, blessed be He, in the same way as a man stands in front of his companion. And with this, he will guard his way - also his mouth and his tongue - from sinning, and 'from anguish to his soul.' And that is why he said, "Know what is above you: An Eye that sees, and an Ear that hears," and counted them as two things - an Eye that sees corresponding to the deed and an Ear that hears corresponding to the speech. And God forbid - it is not a real eye nor a [real] ear. But rather, he means to say that there is no deed that is hidden from in front of Him nor one that is unknown to Him. And the third thing is "and all your deeds are written in a book" - meaning to say that there is no forgetting in front of His throne of glory. And behold, all things are ordered in front of Him, as if they were written in a book, to pay their doers according to their actions and according to the deeds of their hands in the end of days. And if a person puts into his heart the payback that will be given to him, he will prevent himself from doing [sins]. And about this, he said, "Keep your eye on these three things and you will not come to sin."