Afterward he will arise and requite them: Neither Afterward nor “Later” (Good News Translation) really functions well here; “Finally,” “Eventually,” or even “Sooner or later” would be better. Requite means to pay back, here in the sense of “punish.” Since the last verse interrupted the continuity here, translators need to specify who is meant by them; Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version translate “the wicked.” Arise means that God will stir himself to action; he will begin the work of punishing the wicked. However, it is often best not to translate the Hebrew expression behind this word; it is easy to overdo the translation of it. Good News Translation may be using “judge” to translate arise. A possible model for this line is “Finally, he will punish the wicked.”

And he will bring their recompense on their heads means “and he will see that they get what they deserve” (similarly Good News Translation).

The point of this verse is to answer the skeptics who feel that God never gets around to acting (16.22). Sooner or later he will, says the author. We could combine the two lines of this verse and translate them in one of the following ways:

• Eventually, God will see that sinners get whatever punishment they deserve.

• Eventually, God will punish sinners as they deserve.

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.