Trust in him, and he will help you: The meaning of this line is clear. Good News Translation says “Trust the Lord, and he will help you.” The author has perhaps given the reader second thoughts about serving the Lord in the first place, if it is going to be so costly. But we don’t have to do it alone. The pronoun you is singular in Greek, but see verse 8 where the plural is used. Either is possible depending on which is a more natural style in the translator’s language. If we want to make the connection with the preceding verses clearer, we may say something like “But trust the Lord, and he will help you through those times.” The Greek does not begin the verse with a conjunction, yet “But” would be an appropriate introductory word; it would make the connection even clearer.

Make your ways straight: The Greek verb here is the same as used in verse 2, where “your heart” was the object, and Revised Standard Version translated “Set your heart right” and Good News Translation translated “Be sincere.” Here Good News Translation preserves the image of the verb with “Walk straight in his [the Lord’s] ways.” The author is actually talking about a person straightening his own ways, but it is perhaps the same thing. A rendering such as “Keep going straight ahead [or, on the true path]” would certainly be true to the meaning, and would fit the context, since it would carry with it a repetition of the idea of determination from verse 2.

And hope in him: This is more than a restatement of Trust in him to fill out the parallel line of poetry. The meaning is much the same, but the focus is on the future rather than the present. It looks forward to the next section, where ben Sira will tell the reader of the rewards that the faithful can look forward to. Good News Translation expresses this as “and put your hope in him” because it is more natural English. But in some languages “hope” will be a rather weak term with the meaning that something good might happen. In such cases a possible model is “Believe that he will certainly help you.”

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.