The Lord has overthrown the lands of the nations: Good News Translation interprets lands of the nations to mean lands governed by other nations, that is, “empires.” We may express this line more simply by saying “The Lord has taken away the power of other nations.”

And has destroyed them to the foundations of the earth: “And completely devastated their lands” (Good News Translation) is an attempt to express the idea of this line without using the image of the foundations of the earth. Possible idioms that may be used here are “wiped them off the map,” “wiped them from the ground [or, earth],” and so on.

The Hebrew continues the imagery of roots in this verse; compare New American Bible, which has “He breaks down their stem to the level of the ground, then digs their roots from the earth.” Contemporary English Version keeps this imagery with “and plows through their fields until nothing remains.”

An alternative model for verses 15-16 is:

• The Lord has removed nations from their lands, and given those lands to humbler people. The Lord has taken away the power of the lands governed by other nations, and wiped those nations from the earth.

These verses could also be combined as follows:

• The Lord has pulled up nations by the roots, tearing them completely out of the ground. He has overthrown empires, and to take their place has raised weaker nations to power.

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.