As clay in the hand of the potter—for all his ways are as he pleases—so men are in the hand of him who made them, to give them as he decides: A potter is a skilled person who makes pots, jugs, and other household objects from clay. His ways refers to the potter’s. For the figure of the potter working with clay, compare Isa 29.16; 45.9; 64.8; Jer 18.4, 6; Rom 9.21; Wis 15.7-8. Good News Translation restructures the complex thought in this verse well, but it could be simpler by rendering it in one of the following ways:

• Potters are free to shape the clay any way they like, and our Creator can make us any way he pleases.

• Our Creator can make us any way he pleases, just as potters are free to shape the clay any way they like.

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.