Remember your father and mother … you will curse the day of your birth: One danger of getting in the habit of improper speech is that it starts coming naturally. You might forget yourself and say something offensive at an inappropriate time which is very embarrassing. (Actually, this verse does not actually mention talking, but that is probably what the author means.) Good News Translation translates the lines of this verse in the order 3, 2, 4, 1, 6, 5. This is good. The following model is another approach; it combines the last two lines into one line, and takes the lines in the order 2, 3, 4, 1, 5-6:

• Suppose you are talking with some important people, and you forget yourself and say some foul [or, dirty] word that you are in the habit of using. They will think you’re a fool. And think how embarrassed your parents would be! You will be so ashamed [of yourself] that you will wish you had never been born.

The Revised Standard Version footnote on this verse gives the literal rendering for when, which is “for.” New Revised Standard Version also says “when,” but eliminates the footnote as unnecessary.

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.