מדרש על משלי 3:34

Rabba b. R. Huna in the name of his father, and according to others, R. Huna in the name of R. Elazar, said: "From the Pentateuch, Prohpets, and Hagiographa it is inferred that Heaven leads a man upon the road he desires to follow. From the Pentateuch (Num. 22, 12) Thou shalt not go with them, and (Ib., ib. 20) Rise, up, go with them; from the Prophets (Is. 48, 17) Who teacheth thee for thy profit, who leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldst go; and from Hagiographa (Pr. 3, 34) If it concerneth the scorners, He scorneth them; but unto the humble, He giveth grace.

Resh Lakish said: "What is the meaning of the passage (Prov. 3, 34) If [it concerns] the mockers He will mock, but to the modest He will give grace; i.e., if one wishes to defile himself [with sin] the door is merely opened to him; but if one comes to purify himself, he is assisted." In the house of learning of R. Ishmael it was taught: "This statement may be compared to the story of a merchant who sells both naphtha and perfumes (Fol. 39); when one arrives to buy naphtha, he saith to him: 'Measure yourself the quantity you need'; but if one arrives to buy perfumes, he says, 'Wait, we will both measure it, so that I may also inhale the odor.'" The same disciples taught: "Sin dulls the heart of a man, as it is said (Lev. 11, 43) And ye shall not make yourselves unclean with them, that ye should he defiled thereby. Read not V'nitmethem (you will be defiled), but Untamatam (you will become dull-hearted)." Our Rabbis were taught: The passage, And ye shall not make yourselves unclean with them, that ye should be defiled, implies that, when a man defiles himself, a little, he will become defiled much; [when one defiles himself] here below he will be defiled from above; and when [he defiles himself] in this world, he will be defiled in the world to come. Our Rabbis have been taught: Ye shall sanctify yourselves; and be holy. When a man sanctifies himself a little here below, he will be sanstified much above; and when he sanctifies himself in this world, he will be sanctified in the world to come.

Raba b. R. Isaac said to R. Juda: "There is an idol in our town, and whenever there is drought with us, it comes in a dram to the priests, saying: 'Sacrifice a human being to me and you shall have rain;' and when they sacrifice a human being, it in reality begins to rain." Thereupon said R. Juda: "You may esteem yourselves fortunate that I am yet among the living, for were I dead, I should not be in a position to communicate to you what Rab said thereabout — viz.: 'What is the meaning of the passage (Ib. 4, 19) And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon and the stars, even all the host of heaven, and be drawn away and worship them … which the Lord thy God alloted unto all the peoples; from this it may be inferred that God has given some power to some worshipped objects for the purpose of barring their worshippers from the world to come.' " And this is what Resh Lakish said elsewhere: "What is the meaning of the passage (Pr. 3, 34) If it concerneth the scorner, He scorneth them, but unto the humble He giveth grace? This means that when one comes to defile himself, the door is opened to him, while when one comes to cleanse himself, he is supported."