Happy are we, O Israel: Good News Translation has “How happy we are, people of Israel.” “How” is used as an exclamation, not as a question word. Here in English it serves the function of turning the statement “we are happy” into an exclamation. Contemporary English Version shows this with “We should celebrate, because we are the people of Israel.” Another way of expressing it is “We are the people of Israel, so we should consider ourselves truly fortunate.”

For we know what is pleasing to God: Knowing what is pleasing to God is what makes them fortunate (or, happy/blessed); it is the advantage they have over others. Good News Translation spells this out with “we have the advantage of knowing what is pleasing to God.” Contemporary English Version has “the only ones who know what pleases God.”

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Shorter Books of the Deuterocanon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2006. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.