Now the author turns his attention back to God, but this time his focus is not on God and the universe, but on God and humanity. However, the connector Therefore indicates a very close connection between this verse and the previous one, so a new paragraph probably should not be started here (so Good News Translation).

Therefore the Lord is patient with them and pours out his mercy upon them: The meaning of this verse is that God is patient and merciful with us because he is aware of how small we are in the context of the universe and of eternity. Good News Translation “That is why” (similarly Contemporary English Version) translates Therefore; the second use of “why” in Good News Translation makes clear that the second clause as well as the first one looks back to verses 8-10. The pronoun them refers, of course, to human beings. The translator will need to make this clear, either by speaking of “human beings” or “people” (Revised English Bible) or by using the first person plural pronoun, as Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version do throughout this section. Pours out his mercy uses the image of pouring out a liquid. The Old Testament often speaks of God pouring out his wrath (for example, Jer 10.25); this is unusual to speak of him pouring out his mercy. Good News Translation “is so free with his mercy” expresses the meaning without the imagery, which may prove distracting for many. “Pour out” has been used figuratively in 1.9; 10.13; and 16.11.

Contemporary English Version has a helpful alternative model for this verse:

• That’s why the Lord
patiently shows us mercy,
time after time.

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.