for himself? (2) That which is a pride to him who pursues it and
which also brings him honor from mankind. Be as scrupulous about a
light precept as about a grave one, for thou knowest not the grant of
reward for each precept. Reckon the loss incurred by the fulfilment
of a precept against the reward secured by its observance (3), and the
gain gotten by a transgression against the loss it involves. Consider
three things, that thou mayest not come within the power of sin (4).
Know what is above thee--a seeing eye, and a hearing ear, and all thy
deeds written in a book" (5).

(1) Rabbi Judah (135-220 C.E.), son of Simeon (chapter I, 18),
was known as "Rabbi," as a mark of distinction, owing to the
fact that he was the chief reviser and compiler of the
_Mishnah_. Earlier compilers of the _Mishnah_ had been
Hillel, Akiba, and R. Meir. Rabbi Judah was also known as
_Rabbenu_ (our Master), _ha-Nasi_ (the Prince), and
_ha-Kodesh_ (the Holy). He is said to have died[*] on the day
that Akiba met his death at the hands of the Romans. See
Danziger, _Jewish Forerunners of Christianity_, pp. 242-274,
Myers, _Story of the Jewish People_, I, 210-222, and Strack,
_Einleitung in den Talmud_, p. 96. [* a prior owner of the
source text annotated it by crossing out "died" and writing in
"been born".]

(2) Maimonides interprets this verse as meaning to pursue a
medium course between two equally bad extremes, the _too much_
and the _too little_. On this subject, see his celebrated
fourth chapter of the _Shemonah Perakim_ (_The Eight
Chapters_) on the "mean"; ed. Gorfinkle, p. 54, _et seq._