6. Joshua, the son of Perachyah, and Nittai, the Arbelite, received (the tradition) from them. Joshua, the son of Perachyah, said, "Provide thyself with a teacher, and possess thyself of a companion; and judge every man in the scale of merit." 7. Nittai, the Arbelite, said, "Keep aloof from a bad neighbor; associate not with the wicked, and abandon not the belief in retribution." 8. Judah, the son of Tabbi, and Simeon, the son of Shatach, received (the tradition) from them. Judah, the son of Tabbi, said, "(In the judge's office) act not the counsel's part; while the litigants are standing before thee, let them be regarded by thee as guilty, but when they are departed from thy presence, regard them as innocent, the verdict having been acquiesced in by them." 9. Simeon, the son of Shatach, said, "Be very searching in the examination of witnesses, and be guarded in thy words, lest through them they learn to lie." 10. Shemaiah and Abtalion received (the tradition) from them. Shemaiah said, "Love work; hate lordship; and seek no intimacy with the ruling power." 11. Abtalion said, "Ye sages, be heedful of your words, lest ye incur the penalty of exile and be exiled to a place of evil waters, and the disciples who come after you drink thereof and die, and the Heavenly Name be profaned." 12. Hillel and Shammai received (the tradition) from them. Hillel said, "Be of the disciples of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving mankind and drawing them night to the _Torah_." 13. He used to say, "A name made great is a name destroyed; he who does not increase (his knowledge) decreases (it); and he who does not study deserves to die; and he who makes a worldly use of the crown (of the _Torah_) shall waste away." 14. He used to say, "If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I care for myself only, what am I? And if not now, when?" 15. Shammai said, "Set a fixed time for thy (study of) _Torah;_ say little and do much; and receive all men with a cheerful countenance." 16. Rabban Gamaliel said, "Provide thyself with a teacher; be quit of doubt; and accustom not thyself to give tithes by a conjectural estimate." 17. Simeon his son, said, "All my days I have grown up amongst the wise, and I have found nothing better for man than silence; not learning but doing is the chief thing; and whoso multiplies words causes sin." 18. Rabban Simeon, the son of Gamaliel said, "By three things is the world preserved; by truth, by judgment, and by peace, as it is said, 'Judge ye the truth and the judgment of peace in your gates.'" Rabbi Chanania, the son of Akashia, said, "The Holy One, blessed be He, was pleased to make Israel worthy; wherefore He gave them a copious _Torah_ and many commandments, as it is said, 'It pleased the Lord, for his righteousness' sake, to magnify the _Torah_ and make it honorable.'" CHAPTER II