Good News Translation‘s paragraph break here is appropriate since there is a slight shift in subject matter.

Prepare what to say, and thus you will be heard: People will listen to you if they realize that you have thought through what you are talking about. So this line may be rendered “If you want others to listen to you, then prepare what you are going to say.”

Bind together your instruction, and make your answer: Your instruction refers to things in which you have been instructed, that is, what you know. When you are involved in a discussion, bring everything you know to bear on the subject, “draw upon your training” (New American Bible), gather your thoughts, and only then speak. An alternative model is “Think about what you have learned before you start talking.”

The two lines of this verse may be combined as follows:

• If you want others to listen to you, then think about what you have learned and how you can best say it—before you start talking.

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.