A thief is preferable to a habitual liar: To say that a thief is better than a liar is not to say that the thief is good. It’s just that the thief’s fault is easier to tolerate. So we may translate “We can put up with [or, tolerate] thieves more easily than liars.”

But the lot of both is ruin is literally “but both will inherit destruction.” An American Translation translates “But they are both doomed to destruction.” We could say “but both will eventually be ruined [or, destroyed]” or “but both are on the road to destruction” (Contemporary English Version).

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.