Decay and worms will inherit him, and the reckless soul will be snatched away: Compare Pro 7.25-27; 9.18. Good News Translation reverses these two lines, so that the reference to the reckless soul follows after the occurrence of “reckless” in the previous verse as follows: “A man who goes to prostitutes gets more and more careless, 3 and that carelessness will cost him his life.” Good News Translation also reverses the two lines in this verse, so that death precedes decay. A soul being snatched away refers to death. Decay and worms refers to the decomposing of the body after death (see 7.17; 10.11). Inherit him means that his corpse is turned over to the agents of decay, no longer of any human use. Good News Translation‘s restructuring of this verse is effective. Contemporary English Version also provides a helpful model:

• Death will come suddenly,
then their bodies will rot
and be eaten by worms.

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.