An evil soul will destroy him who has it: New English Bible and New Revised Standard Version take evil soul to mean “Evil passion,” which fits the context better than “Evil desire” in Good News Translation. We are still talking about lack of the self-control, not immoral desire. Good alternative renderings are “A temper that is out of control will destroy you” and “If you get angry easily, that anger will destroy you in the end.”

And make him the laughingstock of his enemies: A laughingstock is a person who people laugh at in scorn and derision, often because of some foolish action taken by that person. Good News Translation “joke” is a reasonable equivalent in more informal English. New English Bible approaches the idea by restructuring the verse as follows:

• Evil passion ruins the man who harbours it,
to the delight of his gloating enemies.

An alternative model is:

• A temper that is out of control can destroy you, and your enemies will just laugh [or, think it funny].

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.