You who fear the Lord: See the comments on verse 7.

Hope for good things, for everlasting joy and mercy: Hope is the same verb used in verse 6, except that here it is plural (Good News Translation “All you … look forward to”). The English word hope does not convey the meaning here; it sounds as if the good things are only a remote possibility. Quite to the contrary, ben Sira is telling his readers that if they honor the Lord, these are things they can confidently expect. So Good News Translation says “look forward to.” Another possible model is “expect that the Lord will give.”

It is not clear from the Greek whether good things is one in a series of three things the faithful can expect, or whether everlasting joy and mercy are the good things. Revised Standard Version seems to allow for both meanings, but here the ambiguity is harmless. Good News Translation commits itself to the second option by saying “his blessings of mercy and eternal happiness” (also New Jerusalem Bible “those good gifts of his, everlasting joy and mercy” and Contemporary English Version “good things, like mercy and a life full of joy)” On the other hand, New English Bible goes with the first option: “prosperity, lasting happiness and favour” (also An American Translation “his blessings, And for everlasting joy and mercy”).

If the translator chooses to render good things as “his blessings,” the translation is committed to option two (in spite of An American Translation) because everlasting joy and mercy are God’s blessings. Good things, as used in the Old Testament, generally refers to material goods; see, for instance, Gen 45.23; Deut 6.11; Neh 9.25 (compare Sir 16.29). The phrase used in those passages in Hebrew is very likely what our author used here. The Handbook therefore strongly suggests that this be understood literally, so that good things is something to be hoped for in addition to everlasting joy and mercy. New English Bible is almost surely on the right track in translating “prosperity.”

It is evident from 14.16; 17.27-28 and 41.4 that ben Sira does not hold to the idea of a life after death, but clings to the Old Testament idea of Sheol, the land of the dead. That means that everlasting joy does not refer to the afterlife, but to happiness in this life. New Revised Standard Version renders it “lasting joy” and Contemporary English Version “a life full of joy,” which are a bit more appropriate. Good News Translation “eternal happiness” is simply in conflict with 17.27-28. The Hebrew expression for everlasting joy is found in Isa 35.10; 51.11; 61.7.

An alternative model for this verse is:

• All you who revere the Lord, expect him to cause you to prosper, to be merciful to you, and to let you have a life full of joy.

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.