Do not say, “Because of the Lord I left the right way”: Ben Sira presents the sinner’s defense here and in verse 12 in the words he puts in the sinner’s mouth. We could translate “Do not say, ‘It is the Lord’s fault that I sinned.’ ” Even though Good News Translation‘s rendering of this line is brief, it expresses the meaning.

For he will not do what he hates: This is one of few places where Revised Standard Version prefers the Hebrew text over the Greek, which reads “for do not do what he hates.” The Hebrew literally reads “for what he hates he does not do.” Good News Translation (but not Contemporary English Version), also following the Hebrew, interprets it to mean “the Lord does not cause what he hates,” since the Lord is not being accused of sinning, but of causing people to sin. This is a good point, so another possible rendering is “The Lord is not going to make you do something he hates.” The Handbook urges translators to follow the Hebrew here, but since there is one Greek manuscript that agrees with it, perhaps translators can get by without a footnote. The printed Greek texts of both Rahlfs and Ziegler emend the text to reflect the Hebrew. (In Greek the difference involves the presence or absence of a single letter.)

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Sirach. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.