(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. 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. Also, weigh the loss [that may be sustained through the fulfillment] of a commandment against the reward [that may be obtained] for [fulfilling] it. And [weigh] the gain [that may be obtained through the committing] of a transgression against the loss [that may be sustained] by [committing] it. 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.

(1) Rabbi [Yehuda haNasi] said, "...sheyivor": [is the same as] sheyivror (that he should choose).

(2) "Which is the right path that a person should choose for himself? Whichever [path] that is [itself] praiseworthy for the person adopting [it]": that it should be pleasant for him and pleasant to people from him. And this will be when he walks in the middle path in all of this character traits and not veer to one of the two extremes. For if he is very stingy, it is praiseworthy for him, as he gathers much money together, but people do not praise him for this trait. And if he throws [money] around beyond what is fitting, the people that receive it from him praise him, but it is not praiseworthy for [him] and it is not pleasant for him, as he will come to poverty because of it. But rather, the trait of generosity - which is the middle [trait] between stinginess and throwing [money] around - is praiseworthy for him, as he keeps his money and does not throw it around more than is fitting; and it is praiseworthy for others from [such] a man; as people praise him, that he gives as is fitting for him to give. And so is the case with all of the other traits.

(3) "for you do not know the reward given [for the fulfillment] of [the respective] commandments": The reward of one who performs a positive commandment and the punishment of one who refrains from doing them is not explained in the Torah. As if it were [referring to] the punishment of negative commandments, they are explicit in the Torah: stoning, burning, killing (decapitation), strangulation, being cut off and death by the hand of the Heavens and lashes. The lightest punishment is for lightest sin, and the weightiest one is for the weightiest.

(4) "Also, weigh the loss [that may be sustained through the fulfillment] of a commandment": that which you lose from your merchandise and your money because of the involvement in the commandment in contrast with the reward that will accrue to you from it in this world or the world to come, which will be more than that loss.

(5) "and [weigh] the gain [that may be obtained through the committing] of a transgression": the benefit that you gain from a transgression in contrast with the loss that will come to you in the future from it.