Does he have no mercy toward a man like himself, and yet pray for his own sins?: Once again this question does not expect an answer, so Good News Translation expresses it as a statement. Good News Translation provides a good model for those who translate this verse in the second person. The underlined expressions that follow are additions Good News Translation has made to bring out the meaning, which is tightly compressed in Greek. Good News Translation has added nothing that ben Sira did not assume: “You yourself are a sinner, and if you won’t forgive another person, you have no right to pray that the Lord will forgive your sins.”

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.