The Sages taught [the following chapter] in the language of the Mishnah, blessed is he who chooses them and their teachings. 'RMeir says: Whoever engages in [the study of] Torah for its own sake merits many things. Moreover, the whole, entire world is worthwhile for his [sake]. He is called “Friend,” “Beloved”; he loves the Onmipresent, he loves [His] creatures; he gladdens the Omnipresent, he gladdens [His] creatures; [the Torah] clothes him [in] humility and fear [of God], and it makes him fit to be a righteous, devout, fair, and trustworthy person; distances him from sin, and draws him near to merit; and they enjoy from him counsel and wisdom, understanding and strength, as it is said: With me there is counsel and wisdom, I am under- standing, with me is strength; it gives him kingship and dominion and analytical judgment; they reveal to him secrets of the Torah, and he becomes like a steadily strengthening wellspring and like a river that does not cease; he will be discreet, patient, and forgiving of insult to himself; and it makes him great and exalts him above all things.

'RYehoshua ben Levi said: On each and every day a bas kol emanates from Mt. Chorev and it proclaims and says, “Woe to them, to people, because of the disgrace of the Torah.” For anyone who does not engage in Torah study is called “banned,” as it is stated: [Like] a golden ring in the snout of a pig, [so] is a beautiful woman whose good sense has departed. And it says: The Tablets were God's handiwork, and the script was the script of God, engraved upon the Tablets, do not read [the word as] “charus” (engraved) but [as] “cheirus” (freedom); [this teaches] that there is no free person except one who engages in Torah study. And anyone who engages in Torah [study] is elevated, as it is stated: From Mattanah to Nachliel and from Nachliel to Bamos.

He who learns from his colleague a single chapter, a single law, a single verse, a single word, or even a single letter [of Torah] must treat him with honor, for so we find in the case of David, king of Israel, who learned nothing from Ahithophel except two things, [yet] he called him his teacher, his mentor, and his adviser, as it is stated: But you are a man of my measure, my mentor, and my adviser. And does not the matter [lend itself to] a kal vachomer? If David, king of Israel, who learned nothing from Ahithophel except two things, called him his teacher, his mentor, and his adviser, one who learns from his colleague one chapter, one law, one verse, one word, or even [just] one letter, how much more must he treat him with honor. And honor [is due] only [for] Torah, as it is stated: Honor is inherited by the wise, and the perfect inherit good. And “good” refers only to Torah, as it is stated: For I have given you a good teaching, do not forsake My Torah.

This is the way of Torah —- eat [only] bread with salt, drink water in small measure, sleep on the ground, and live a life of privation, and you should toil in Torah. And if you do this, you are fortunate and it is well for you. You are fortunate in this world, and it is well with you in the World to Come.

Do not seek greatness for yourself and do not covet honor. Do more than your learning. And do not desire the table of kings, for your table is greater than their table, and your crown is greater than their crown. And your Employer can be relied upon to pay you the wage of your labor.

Torah is greater than the priesthood and royalty, for royalty is acquired with thirty attributes, and the priesthood [is acquired] with twenty-four [attributes], but the Torah is acquired with forty-eight things. And these are they: with study, with attentive listening, with articulation, with understanding, with discernment, with dread, with fear, with humility, with joy, with purity, with ministering to sages, with the analysis of colleagues, and with the sharp debate of students, with a settled [mind], with [knowledge of] Scripture, with [knowledge of] Mishnah, with a curtailing of business activity, with a curtailing of social activity, with a curtailing of pleasure, with a curtailing of sleep, with a curtailing of conversation, with a curtailing of laughter, with slowness to anger, with a good heart, with faith in the Sages, with acceptance of suffering, one who recognizes his place, one who is happy with his lot, one who makes a fence around his affairs, does not take credit for himself, is beloved, loves the Omnipresent, loves people, loves the [ways of] righteousness, loves reproofs, loves straightforwardness, distances [himself] from honor, [whose] heart does not become arrogant because of his learning, [who] does not enjoy rendering halachic decisions, shares his fellow's burden, judges him favorably, sets him on the [path of] truth, [and] sets him on the [path of] peace, [who] is settled in his study, asks and answers, hears and adds, one who studies in order to teach, and one who studies in order to practice, one who makes his teacher wiser, one who accurately [repeats] what he heard, and one who says something [over] in the name of the one who [originally] said it. For you have learned this, that whoever says something [over] in the name of the one who [originally] said it brings redemption to the world, as it is stated: And Esther informed the king in Mordechai's name.

Great is Torah, for it confers life on its practitioners in this world and in the World to Come, as it states: For they are life to those who find them and healing for all his flesh. And it states: It will be health to your navel and marrow to your bones. And it states: It is a tree of life to those who grasp it and its supporters are fortunate. And it states: For they are an adornment of grace for your head and a chain for your neck. And it states: It will set an adornment of grace upon your head, it will bestow a crown of splendor upon you. And it states: For through me your days will be increased, and they will increase years of life for you. And it states: Length of days is at its right; at its left, wealth and honor. And it states: For they add to you length of days and years of life and peace. And it states: Its ways are ways of pleasantness and all its pathways are peace.

'RShimon ben Menasya says in the name of R' Shimon ben Yochai: Beauty, strength, wealth, honor, [Torah] wisdom, old age and ripe old age, and children, [they] are fitting for the righteous and fitting for the world, as it is stated: The crown of splendor is ripe old age, it will be found in the path of righteousness. And it states: The splendor of youth is their strength, and the glory of the elders is their hoariness. And it states: The crown of the wise is their wealth. And it states: The crown of elders is grandchildren and the glory of children is their parents. And it states: The moon will be humiliated and the sun will be shamed, for Hashem Master of Legions will have reigned in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and there will be honor for His elders.  R' Shimon ben Menasya says: These seven qualities that the Sages enumerated [as fitting] for the righteous, all of them were found in Rebbi and in his sons.

'RYose ben Kisma said: One time I was traveling on the road and a certain man met me and he greeted me and I returned his greeting. He said to me, “My teacher, from which place are you?” I said to him, “I am from a great city of sages and scribes.” He said to me, “My master, do you want to dwell with us in our place and I will give you thousands upon thousands of golden dinars and precious stones and pearls?” I said to him, “[Even] if you would give me all the gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls in the world, I would dwell only in a place of Torah.” for at the time of a person's death, neither silver nor gold nor precious stones nor pearls escort the person, but only Torah and good deeds, as it is stated: As you go forth it will guide you, as you lie down it will guard you, and when you awake it will converse for you. As you go forth it will guide you, in this world. As you lie down it will guard you, in the grave. And when you awake it will converse for you, in the World to Come. And so it is written in the Book of Psalms by David, king of Israel: “The Torah of Your mouth is better for me than thousands in gold and silver.” And it states: Mine is the silver and Mine is the gold, the word of Hashem, Master of legions.

[There are] five acquisitions [that] the Holy One, Blessed is He, acquired for Himself in His world, and these are they: Torah [is] one acquisition, heaven and earth [are] one acquisition, Abraham [is] one acquisition, Israel [is one] acquisition, [and] the Temple [is] one acquisition.  From where [is it known that] Torah [is] one acquisition? For it is written: Hashem made me as the beginning of His way, before His deeds of yore.  From where [is it known that] heaven and earth [are] one acquisition? For it is written: Thus said Hashem, “The heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool, what house could you build for Me and what place could be My resting place.” And it states: How abundant are Your works, Hashem; with wisdom You made them all, [they] fill the earth, your acquisition.  From where [is it known that] Abraham [is] one acquisition? For it is written: He blessed him saying, “Blessed is Abram of God, the Most High, Maker of Heaven and earth.”  From where [is it known that] Israel [is] one acquisition? For it is written: Until Your people passes through, Hashem, until this people You have acquired passes through. And it states: For the sake of the holy ones who are [interred] in the earth, and for the mighty, all my desires are fulfilled because of them.  From where [is it known that] the Temple is one acquisition? For it is written: The foundation of your dwelling place that you, Hashem have made —- the Sanctuary, My Lord, that Your hands established. And it states: And He brought them to His sacred boundary, this mountain that His right hand acquired.